


Clan of the Night Flowers

by disseria



Series: Clan of the Night Flowers [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, BAMF!Stiles, Canon Typical Violence, F/M, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, M/M, Magic!Stiles, Ninja, Oni, Original Character(s), Spirits, Suicide, Zombies, dream walking, jealous!Derek, kami - Freeform, possesive!derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-29
Updated: 2013-01-24
Packaged: 2017-11-17 07:04:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 59,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/548899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disseria/pseuds/disseria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek put his hands on his hips. He had murder in his eyes. "I know what I smelled, Stiles," he said, biting off the end of each word. "I know she was out there, and now her scent is all over you. She just got here Saturday? How is it that you smell that much like her already? Are you sleeping with her?!"</p><p>Stiles' eyes went wide, "What?! No! What?! She just got here! I don't even know her! Are you listening to yourself? Oh my God!"</p><p>Mori swallowed nervously. Maybe she had gone a little overboard with the scenting.</p><p>"You need to get rid of her!" Derek said, jabbing his finger at Stiles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Clan of the Night Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> After seeing some of the teasers for Season 3, I've come to realize that Clan of the Night Flowers is actually set in an AU, where none of Season 3 has happened. Think parallel universe, canon through Season 2, but without the Alpha pack coming into town, an alternate Season 3, if you will. 
> 
> I am a huge fan of Teen Wolf, and accordingly have included quite a few references to the events of seasons 1 & 2 in this story. I wanted this to read as closely as possible to the show, as if it were something that you might actually see on TV, so I kept the rating pretty low. This is very much a plot driven story, but I do love these characters, so I hope that shows.
> 
> This is mostly an action and adventure story; I wanted to play around with the idea of ninjas interacting with the werewolf pack. Because of that, while this _is_ a Sterek story, Clan of the Night Flowers is first and foremost about the plot.
> 
> I thought I was done with this fic, but it seems like the plot bunny is still running, so you never know, there may very well be a part 2 in the works someday. Until then, keep reading, because this fandom has produced some seriously good fanfic, and, keep your chins up through ridiculously long and unholy hiatus. ☺

The doorbell rang. 

Stiles jerked his head up from his computer and furrowed his brow. He was so used to people either just walking through the front door, or coming in through his window, that it had taken him a second to even process the sound. They didn't get a lot of "normal" visitors.

His eyes widened when he suddenly remembered who it might be, and he leapt from his chair. His dad was still at work, so either he was going to open the door, or nobody was. Scrambling down the stairs, he lunged for the doorknob and swung the door open, revealing a short Asian girl with midnight hair that came down to her waist like a curtain. She had big dark brown eyes, a cute button nose and pink gloss on her small lips. 

"Hi!" Stiles blurted out. "You must be our new foreign exchange student! Mori Tanaka, right?"

Startled by Stiles' sudden appearance, Mori took a half step back, but then quickly bowed in greeting, and stood up straight again. When she smiled, she heard Stiles' heart skip a beat. "Hello. You must be Stiles Stilinski."

"Yes, yes!" Stiles replied, nodding enthusiastically. "So, is this all your stuff?" he asked, waving at her suitcases. "Here, let me give you a hand," he said, grabbing a suitcase in each hand and then trying to use them to ineffectually pick up a third.

"Oh, that's okay," Mori said, laughing, "I can get that one." 

She grabbed the third suitcase, rescuing Stiles from his spastic imitation of a claw machine. 

"Your room is this way," Stiles said enthusiastically, leading her up the stairs. "I thought you weren't gonna get here until this afternoon? My dad and I were supposed to pick you up from the airport."

"I got moved to an earlier flight," Mori replied. "I did not want to bother you, so I took a taxi. Anyway, I do not have a phone yet, so I was not able to call."

"So, are you excited?" Stiles asked, "Is this your first time in America?"

"Oh yes!" Mori said with a big smile. "This is my first time leaving Japan. I cannot wait to see what American school is like! Is it like in the movies?"

Stiles snorted. "No, it's gonna be way more boring than that! But, I think you'll like it. There's a whole club for foreign exchange students. By the way, your English is amazing!"

Mori dipped her head down, blushing. "Thank you. I studied English for a long time, and my family hosted an American exchange student a few years ago, so I was able to practice."

"Well, here it is," said Stiles as he shouldered open a door. "Bathroom's right there, and all of these drawers are empty. My dad should be home in a few hours."

They stood smiling awkwardly at each other for a moment before Stiles finally said, "You're probably tired. I'll just let you get settled in," he said, setting her luggage down at the foot of the bed. "I'm just down the hall, so let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you, Stiles," Mori said, bowing again.

Not knowing what else to do, Stiles bowed back, barely missing knocking their heads together, then backed out of the door, waving awkwardly. Mori eased the door closed, and pressed her ear to it. When the hallway was silent, she reached into her purse and pulled out a flat piece of jade, ornately carved into the shape of a flower, circled by vines and leaves. Flipping it over, she revealed a mirror on the other side. She set her purse on the nightstand, and sat on the bed, cradling the mirror in her hands like a baby bird. With practiced ease, she stared into the mirror and allowed her breathing to slow. The jade began to glow faintly, and she could feel its gentle warmth as she fell into a trance.

"Father," she said, her voice like the whisper of moths' wings in the night. "I am in the Stilinski home."

"Very good, daughter," she heard her father's voice say. "What are you doing now?"

"I met the son, Stiles, and he brought me to my room. I am going to unpack my things."

"Good, good," her father replied. "I trust you are prepared for tonight?"

"Yes, father," she said. "I have trained a long time for this."

"Do not underestimate the wolves," he warned. "You have never dealt with their kind before."

"Yes, father," she said. "They will not even know that I am there."

"Contact me as soon as you return."

"Yes, father."

"May the shadows keep you."

"May the shadows keep you," she echoed back.

The glow faded from the mirror, and she slipped it back into her purse. She took a deep breath, not because she needed to settle her nerves, but because it was good discipline. After spending the next hour settling in and filling the drawers and closet with her clothes, she heard the front door open.

"Stiles! I'm home!" she heard Sherrif Stilinski say. "We need to get to the airport to pick up Mori!"

Stiles bolted from his room and yelled from the top of the steps, "She's already here, dad! She took a taxi!"

"She's already here?" Sheriff Stilinski asked, as Mori stepped from her room. She stood next to Stiles as the Sheriff walked up the stairs.

"Oh, hello," he said, holding out his hand. "I'm Mr. Stilinski. Nice to meet you."

"Dad, this is Mori Tanaka," Stiles said, smiling and gesturing to Mori. "Mori, this is my dad."

Mori grabbed Mr. Stilinski's hand with both of hers, and bowed over it. "It is very nice to meet you, Mr. Stilinski."

"You, too," he replied with a smile. "Are you getting settled in okay?"

"Yes, thank you," Mori said. "The room is very nice."

"All right," he said. "Welcome, and let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you, Mr. Stilinski," Mori said, bowing again.

The Sheriff smiled and walked back down the stairs. Mori turned to Stiles, smiled shyly, and then went back to her room. 

* * *

Mori lay on her bed with her eyes closed, trying to steady her breathing. Her family had belonged to the Clan of the Night Flowers for as long as anyone could remember, so her training had begun early. As a child, she was given small doses of poison on a regular basis so that she eventually became immune to all but the most lethal of toxins. Since the time of her first steps, her parents trained her to walk without noise, to climb, leap, and swing her body in ways that an Olympic gymnast could only dream of. They taught her to fight. Her body was a weapon, capable of dispatching almost any human foe, and most inhuman ones. Like the werewolves, she was mostly human, but also something more.

The legend was that the Clan of the Night Flowers were the descendants of the spirits that Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, sent out into the world as protectors while she had sequestered herself inside of a cave. Some claimed it was just a story, but Mori knew that she was not like other people. She had been taught how to pull her sense of being within herself, so that she could become invisible. As long as she was able to maintain control, even a person standing directly in front of her would not know that she was there. To her knowledge, this ability had never been tested on a werewolf before, and her father was eager to find out just how much these creatures were capable of.

She stood up and opened the box she had placed on the dresser. Inside was the uniform of the Night Flowers: black soft-soled shoes and black pants, a short sleeveless dark purple robe tied over a black long-sleeved shirt, and a dark purple hood that left only her eyes and the bridge of her nose exposed. Each member of the clan was trained in the use of all weapons, and she was more than proficient in the use of swords, bows, and staves, even firearms. But, each family had a specialty, and for the Tanakas, that meant knives. She lifted her brace of four throwing knives, perhaps her most cherished possessions, and tied it around her waist. She then began to secret knives about her person, about fifteen in all. Getting through security at the airport would have been all but impossible if not for the mystical preparations her mother had done the week before.

With the lights off in her room, she was little more than a shadow in the mirror, and between one breath and another, the window was open and she was gone, the barest whisper of a noise to mark her passing. She leapt onto rooftops, running across them without the occupants of the houses any the wiser, jumped over cars and fences, and swung herself through the branches of trees, all the while keeping herself centered and calm. This was just like every other night. This was just like any other hunt.

She found the wolves easily enough, alighting on a tree to watch them. The moon was full, and they were running, frenzied by the pull of their pale god. Even at the Stilinski house, she could feel their presence drawing her, like calling to like, all creatures of the night. 

There were four of them, and she watched as they ran under her tree, none of them pausing for even a second in suspicion that anything might be amiss. Her intel suggested that the one in front was the Alpha, Derek Hale. There were three others behind him. One was female; that had to be Erica. Another was tall and dark-skinned; that one was probably Boyd. The last one took her a second to figure out, as there were several werewolves in Beacon Hills, but the lankiness, height and hair-color made her think he must be the one called Isaac.

She jumped down and began to follow them. They were traveling at speed, but it was not difficult for her to keep pace. In fact, she thought, she could probably overtake them if she needed to. But, all she was supposed to do that night was observe them and report back to her father. She was not there to confront them, at least not yet. 

The pack circled a deer and killed it almost before it knew what was happening. Mori watched as the four descended upon the carcass, devouring the flesh raw. Afterwards, to wash off the blood, they jumped into a nearby stream, and began play fighting in the water. Mori almost felt herself smiling at the scene. 

They gave no indication that they knew she might be there, which was good, but she had yet to really test herself. While they pulled and tugged at each other in the water, she began to walk closer. She kept her breathing steady, and was careful to make her footsteps absolutely silent. Soon, she was standing at the water's edge, and the wolves continued to behave as if she were not there. Even though she could not stop her heart from beating, she was able to slow it enough that the wolves might not recognize it as a human heartbeat. And, even though anyone else standing at the edge of that stream might begin to panic, Mori was more than capable of defending herself, and if need be, evading them, so her heartbeat remained calm.

Suddenly, Derek's hand shot up, and he snarled at the others to silence them.

"What is it?" asked Boyd, letting go of Erica's arm.

"Something's not right," Derek answered, sniffing the air. "Something smells off."

Mori realized that the breeze had shifted, and her scent was being blown directly towards them. Derek's gaze took in the surrounding area, and for one moment, he was looking directly at her, but he continued turning his head, unaware of her presence. The muscles in Mori's legs were coiled like springs, tense and ready. The other werewolves were following Derek's gaze, and the moment he was looking away from her, she leapt into the air, gracefully somersaulting into a tree with no more noise than a moth would make settling on a branch. Derek turned his head back to where she had been previously standing, but other than that, gave no indication that he had noticed anything.

"Come on," he said to the others. "Let's get back to base."

Mori watched them leave, and not wanting to press her luck, decided not to follow. The scent thing was going to be a problem, but she hoped her parents would have a solution for that.

When she got back to her room, Mori pulled the jade mirror out of her purse. Holding it in her hands, she stilled her breathing until the mirror began to glow and she could sense her father's presence on the other side.

"Daughter, you have returned from observing the wolves, yes? What have you learned?"

"Our ability to hide within ourselves works even against the wolves, father," she said. "But, the wolves see with more than their eyes."

"Oh?"

"It is their sense of smell, father," she replied. "Even though we cannot be seen, they are still able to detect our presence by our scent. Perhaps there is a method we can use to counteract this?"

"Anything we do to conceal your scent will only provide them with a different scent to smell," he responded. "This is a quandary. Perhaps your mother can devise a plan for you."

There was a brief period of silence as her father left to find her mother.

"Hello, my daughter," she heard her mother say. "It seems you were successful tonight, as you are speaking with us now?"

"Yes, mother." Mori answered. "The wolves were unable to see me. However, their leader was able to detect me by scent. He may not have known what the scent was, but he knew it did not belong in the forest. Father was hopeful that you might know a way to prevent this."

Her mother was silent for a moment. "We have no way to eliminate scent. We have not had to contend with an ability such as this, before. The boy you are staying with, he is a friend to the wolves, is he not?"

"That is what our intelligence tells us, yes," Mori answered.

"Perhaps the answer then is for you to smell like him, and for him to smell like you."

Mori thought about what her mother said before answering. "Yes, mother. I will see what I can do. Good night, mother."

"Good night, daughter. May the shadows keep you."

"May the shadows keep you."

Mori put the mirror away and pondered the situation, and she was soon stripping off her clothes. After removing the fitted sheet from her bed, she wrapped it around her naked body. The exertions of the night had left a light sheen of sweat on her skin, which she was hoping would be sufficient to impart her scent onto the thin material. She rolled around on the bed with the sheet for a few seconds, then dressed herself in her sleeping clothes. Grabbing a pair of scissors from the nightstand, she picked up the shirt she had been wearing earlier and began cutting it into thin strips. She shoved these into her pocket, and walked out of her room and into the hallway with the bed sheet in her hands. 

The inside of Stiles' bedroom was quiet, and determining that he was not inside of it, she let herself in. She removed the fitted sheet from his bed, replacing it with the one from her bed, and then began distributing the strips of cloth around his room: one at the back of each of his drawers, a few in his closet, and one at the bottom of his backpack. Afterwards, she dug into his laundry pile and pulled out one of his undershirts. When she got back to her own room, she cut his undershirt into thin strips, distributing them about her room in the same manner that she had done to his, and pulled his sheet over her bed. Come Monday, they would smell like they had been living together for years.

* * *

"Scott, this is Mori Tanaka," Stiles said, gesturing at her. "She's the foreign exchange student that's gonna be living with us this year. Mori, this is my best friend, Scott."

"Nice to meet you," Mori said, sticking out her hand. She had quickly realized that bowing all the time was making the Americans uncomfortable, so she had taken up their practice of greeting each other with a handshake.

"Nice to meet you, too," Scott said, flashing her a lopsided grin.

She would have known that he was one of the werewolves, even if her dossier had not included the information. There was just something about them that was different. But, Scott seemed so normal standing there in the middle of the school hallway, so _nice_. She found herself hoping that she wouldn't have to kill him.

Later that day, she found herself sitting with Stiles' friends: Scott, Allison, Lydia and Danny. Scott she already knew about, but there was something about Lydia that she couldn't quite figure out. She wasn't a werewolf, of that she was certain, but Lydia wasn't a typical human either. There was just something about her that was familiar, familial even. Mori began to wonder if she might be the descendant of a Night Flower; she was certainly pretty enough. She decided it couldn't hurt to ask some questions. 

"Lydia?' she asked, "Do you have any Japanese ancestry?"

Lydia turned to her, shock and suspicion plain on her face. "Yes, actually," she replied. "One of my great grandmothers is Japanese. Why?"

"I just got this sense that we had a kind of bond, is all," Mori answered with a smile.

Lydia smiled back dismissively. "Well, I don't know very much about that part of my family, so…"

Mori nodded and let the matter drop. She would have to tell her parents about Lydia later.

After school, Stiles dropped her off at the house and then took off in his jeep. Mori went back to Stiles' room, grabbed another one of his used undershirts, and put it on under her uniform. She left the house only minutes behind Stiles, and even though he was in his Jeep, she had no doubt that she would not be very far behind when he eventually got to where he was going.

The abandoned subway station the wolves were using as their base was ridiculously easy to find, and she was able to sneak in without attracting any attention. Surprisingly, the only people inside were Stiles and Derek, who were apparently engaged in an argument.

"You have a foreign exchange student living with you, now?!" Derek was yelling. "And, I have to learn about it by the way you smell, which I might add is the same scent from when I was out running with the others on Saturday night!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Stiles, sounding a bit panicked. "Did something happen on Saturday?"

"No," Derek answered, "but I smelled what's her name…"

"Mori," Stiles interjected. "Mori Tanaka."

"I smelled Mori that night while we were running."

"That's not possible," Stiles argued. "She just got here on Saturday! What, you think some new foreign exchange student is gonna get here and just start running around the woods at night before she's even unpacked her bags?"

Derek put his hands on his hips. He had murder in his eyes. "I know what I smelled, Stiles," he said, biting off the end of each word. "I know she was out there, and now her scent is all over you. She just got here Saturday? How is it that you smell that much like her already? Are you sleeping with her?!"

Stiles' eyes went wide, "What?! No! What?! She just got here! I don't even know her! Are you listening to yourself? Oh my God!"

Mori swallowed nervously. Maybe she had gone a little overboard with the scenting.

"You need to get rid of her!" Derek said, jabbing his finger at Stiles.

"What do you mean, 'get rid of her?' I can't 'get rid of her!' You can't just 'get rid' of someone!" Stiles replied, arms flailing.

"I don't like it!" Derek pressed. "For all you know, she could be a hunter, and she could be using you to get to us."

 _Wow_ , Mori thought, _he hit that nail on the head._ This Alpha was turning out to be a lot smarter than most of the other monsters she'd dealt with. His memory of her scent was a problem. Fortunately, she had something back in her room that she might be able to use to deal with it. She left Stiles and Derek to their argument and made her way back to the Stilinski house. 

Lifting up the false bottom of her suitcase, she found the rows of vials that she had prepared with her mother for various scenarios. She picked up a vial filled with grey powder with tiny flecks of pale blue that glinted in the light. Her mother called it "Thief of Night's Veil." It was used to see into people's dreams. She had only used it one other time, on an herbalist, completely human, when she had suspected him of keeping information from her. In her experience, mystical creatures were more resistant to these sorts of things, so she would need to use something else to lower his defenses. Knowing what her daughter was going there to do, her mother had also provided her with a substantial amount of wolfsbane. Mori poured a bit of the dream powder into an empty vial, and added just a pinch of the wolfsbane. She wasn't trying to hurt him, after all. She poured a little bit more of the dream powder into a small incense bowl and set it on her nightstand.

Having put the vials away, she waited for Stiles to come home. After hearing him settle in for the night, she was out the window again, leaping through the shadows towards the wolf's den. When she got there, she was confronted with a pile of sleeping bodies consisting of Derek, Boyd, Erica and Isaac. She took a deep breath, and snuck closer to them. She poured the dream powder into her hand, and reached out towards Derek's face, freezing when Isaac suddenly moved, setting off a chain reaction that caused each member of the pile to readjust their position. When they finally settled, she sprinkled the powder onto Derek's face, and snuck back out, making it back to her room before too much time had passed. 

She lit the powder in the incense bowl, and lay on her bed, not bothering to change her clothes. As she breathed in the smoke, she felt herself slipping into a familiar trance. Although the sensation of joining her conscious mind to Derek's unconscious one was disconcerting, it was far from the strangest thing she had ever done. She would have to take a form other than her own when inside of his dreams. If he were to ever recognize her because of his dreams, that could cause even more problems than him remembering her scent. Choosing Stiles because he was the one she was most familiar with, she began walking on the pebbled path that had appeared in front of her.

Suddenly, Derek was approaching her with his arms open wide and a huge grin on his face. From what little she knew of him, it was an expression that he had not made for a very long time.

"Stiles!" he exclaimed. "You're here! I'm so happy to see you."

Mori could not allow herself to get caught up in one of Derek's dreams. Quickly, she shifted forms and became Lydia, stepping to the side. Derek walked right past her to embrace another Stiles who had materialized in her place. Mori watched as they hugged each other, Derek looking so happy he could cry. He grabbed Stiles' hand and began leading him down the path.

"I have a surprise for you," Derek said, giving Stiles a look that was at once shy and mischievous.

"Oh yeah?" Stiles replied, grinning back at him.

Derek nodded, and led Stiles off the path. Mori followed them to a blanket and picnic basket that Derek had set-up in a small clearing.

"Oh! How sweet!" Stiles exclaimed, pulling Derek close to him. He put his hand behind Derek's head, and pulled him even closer, pressing their lips together as Derek moaned eagerly. Derek crushed Stiles against himself, his hands at Stiles' back, passionate and desperate. When they showed no sign of stopping, Mori decided she needed to move on.

She made her way back to the path and found herself inside of an ornate library. Stiles was lounging on a red velvet fainting couch, his shirt unbuttoned revealing the creamy skin of his lean torso. Derek was teasing him with a handful of red grapes, lowering them to Stiles lips, and laughing as he pulled them away. Occasionally, Stiles would manage to snag a grape with his teeth, causing Derek to gasp with delight. Stiles' eyes were bright and happy, enjoying Derek's playfulness. Mori found herself entranced by the scene. The first scene with the picnic was easy enough to dismiss, dreams are, after all, sometimes only dreams. But, a second one? And, the Derek she saw here in his subconscious with Stiles was nothing like the Derek she had observed over the last few days. Remembering that she still had a job to do, she left the library.

Opening a door in the hallway beyond, she found herself watching Derek and Stiles writhing together on a huge feather bed. Tiny feathers were drifting by in slow motion as they could only do in a person's dreams, while the two men moaned and grunted, grinding their naked bodies against each other. Everything was hazy, the room hot and steamy, the scent of sex heavy in the air. Derek gasped as Stiles bit down on his shoulder, and Mori quickly closed the door before she could witness anything more, finding herself oddly aroused at the werewolf's passion. Though he could not possibly know what he was doing, he was effectively distracting her from her quest to purge the memory of her scent from his mind. 

Running down the hallway, Mori found herself in the woods at night. She was getting closer. As she ran, she caught flashes of Stiles' face, glimpses of his blue jeep, and occasionally, an image of Scott, Isaac or one of the other wolves. The moon in the sky was full, and much closer than it would have been in the real night sky, and she found herself following Derek and his pack, just as she had a few nights ago. They howled and ran and killed the deer, just like they had done on that night, and then they all jumped into the stream. Mori approached the water, not bothering to hide herself as this was only a memory and they would not be able to see her or hurt her. 

She saw the moment when Derek smelled her, when his head jerked up and he raised his hand for silence. This was the moment she had to kill. She had to destroy the heart of the memory, and in this instance, she reasoned that meant killing Derek. Lunging into the water, one of her knives materialized in her hand. It was only the thought of a knife, the impression of a knife, but that did not make it any less lethal. She landed behind Derek, swung her arm around his body, and plunged the knife into his heart. 

There was no time for a reaction. The scene went black, and Mori opened her eyes to find herself in her room, the last of the dream powder rising up out of incense bowl as the tiny ember winked out. Her breathing was heavy, and her forehead glistened with sweat. There was no way to tell if what she did worked, which meant she would just have to keep an eye on Derek over the next few days to see if he mentioned smelling her in the woods again. Exhausted, she rolled to her side, pulled the covers over herself and fell asleep.

* * *

The next night, Mori followed Stiles to the subway station. She watched the werewolves nod their heads in greeting, none of them aware of her presence. They now associated her scent with Stiles, and so long as Stiles was there, they would have no reason to suspect someone else was in the room watching and listening to them. 

"Jeez, Stiles!" Erica complained loudly. "You reek of that Mori chick! What did you do, make out with her all day at school?"

"No!" Stiles exclaimed, smelling his shirt with his ineffectually human nose. 

Mori smiled to herself. Her current plan was to alternate their bed sheets every night, just to make sure her scent would stay fresh on him.

"I don't know what it is," Stiles continued. "I just live with her. How come you don't give Scott a hard time about smelling like his mom?"

"Scott's always smelled like his mom," Derek replied, like he was answering a five year old. "Of course he's gonna smell like her, he's _always_ smelled like her. You've only been living with Mori for four days."

If Derek was going to say anything about smelling Mori in the woods, this would be the time, but he didn't, which Mori took as a good sign.

"Dude!" Stiles said, throwing his arms wide. "I don't get it! We don't even hang out that much."

"Do you use the same towels in the bathroom?" Erica asked, half-laughing.

"Ew, gross, no!" Stiles replied, giving her a look like half of her brain just fell out of her nose.

"Come here," Derek demanded, with his hands on his hips.

"What? Why?" Stiles asked, looking suddenly alarmed.

Derek sighed loudly. "Just come here," he insisted.

"Okay!" Stiles said, annoyed and exasperated.

When he got close enough, Derek reached out, and pulled him the rest of the way by his arms.

"Hey!" Stiles yelled. "Watch it, grabby!"

Derek ignored him and started sniffing Stiles face, neck, shoulders and arms.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"God, she's all over you!" Derek said, wrinkling his nose.

Derek placed his hands on the side of Stiles' face and began rubbing just above Stiles' eyebrows with the pads of his thumbs.

"What are you doing?" Stiles repeated, trying to look up at his own forehead.

"Quiet," Derek said. "I'm trying to get her scent off of you."

Derek moved his thumbs down and began rubbing them on Stiles' cheekbones, then the area under his nostrils and his chin. He went slow, like a mother cat grooming one of her kittens. Mori noticed that Stiles' blinking began to get slower, as his eyelids began to droop. His breathing slowed, and if she was hearing right, his heartbeat was starting to sync up with Derek's. Derek was focused, his mouth half-open, and his pupils dilated. He moved his right hand behind Stiles head, and his left to the middle of Stiles back, pulling Stiles close to him so that the full length of their bodies were pressed up against each other. 

Derek started to rub his cheek against Stiles' when Stiles lifted up his hands as if to push Derek away, "Whoa, buddy!" he said, laughing nervously, "this is getting a little intimate."

"Quiet," Derek repeated, only softer this time as he started rubbing his nose along Stiles' jaw line, neck and the soft spot behind his ear.

Seemingly resigned to his fate, Stiles let his arms drop, and sighed, but Mori was not fooled. She could hear his heart starting to race, and his breathing become heavy. He had a pinched expression on his face, like he was worried about getting caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.

"Hey, you two wanna get a room?" asked Boyd from the sofa. 

By the time Derek turned to look at him, Boyd had returned his attention to the video game he was playing with Isaac and Erica. He let Stiles go.

"Are you done?" Stiles asked Derek.

"Yes."

* * *

"Using 'Thief of Night's Veil' that way was very clever, an excellent display of ingenuity," Mori heard her mother say from the jade mirror. "Your father will be proud."

"Thank you, mother," Mori replied. "Without the memory to guide him, the Alpha now associates my scent with the Stilinski boy. I can now observe them unimpeded as long as the boy is with them."

"Yes," her mother affirmed, "but this may prove too limiting."

"True," Mori agreed, "but the boy is with them much of the time. There has been an interesting development in the relationship between Stiles and the Alpha."

"Oh?"

"Yes," Mori continued. "Nothing definite yet. I will tell you more if there is anything to tell. Also, mother, there is a girl here named Lydia Martin. Do you know of her?"

"I am not familiar with that name. Why do you ask?"

"There is a possibility she may be the descendent of a Night Flower."

"I will look into this right away. Thank you, daughter. May the shadows keep you."

"May the shadows keep you."

Mori put her uniform on and was once again running through the night air. Now, when she followed the wolves, she made sure to stay high up in the trees, minimizing the chance that any of them might smell her. She had also begun taking walks in the woods during the day so that her scent being there would not be an altogether unusual thing. 

As she perched on a branch, watching Erica, Boyd and Isaac wrestle on the ground, she heard a rustle and then the soft whistle of a flying arrow. Her hand was halfway to one of her knives before she realized what she was doing. She could have knocked the arrow out of the air if she wanted to, but she decided instead to let it fly so she could see what would happen. It landed with a thunk in Boyd's shoulder and he grunted in pain. Erica and Isaac growled and turned in the direction that the arrow had come from. Immediately, there were two more arrows flying, and the two werewolves quickly lifted Boyd from the ground, half-pulling, half-dragging him to get away from what seemed to be hunters attacking them.

Mori squinted into the darkness, unable to see anything as the werewolves ran away. She wanted to see who had attacked them, but opted to follow the wolves instead. Even injured, Boyd was able to outrun the hunters and make it back to their base. Once there, Boyd dropped to the floor.

"What happened?!" exclaimed Derek, dropping to Boyd's side.

"Hunters," Erica snarled. "They attacked us for no reason!"

"Yeah," Isaac said, sounding worried. "Aren't they supposed to have a code or something? We didn't do anything."

"Boyd," Derek said, one hand on the arrow, and the other on Boyd's shoulder. "We're gonna have to push the arrowhead through so we can get it out of you."

Boyd grimaced and nodded. Derek grabbed the shaft of the arrow and pushed it through in a single movement, causing Boyd to buck and roar. Derek held on to him until he settled down.

"That was the hard part, okay?" Derek said, looking Boyd in the eyes as Boyd breathed heavily. "Help him sit up," he instructed the others.

Isaac and Erica got Boyd into a sitting position and Derek snapped of the arrowhead off, with Boyd hardly making a noise. He pulled the shaft of the arrow out, and patted Boyd on the other shoulder.

"There," he said. "You'll be all healed up in a few hours."

"Thanks," Boyd replied, his voice ragged.

"Isaac, stay here with Boyd," Derek said, and then turned to Erica. "You're coming with me. We need to find out who these people are."

Isaac looked hurt, but didn't argue. Mori followed Derek and Erica back out into the woods, surprised that none of the wolves seemed to notice her in the subway station, though to be fair, they were currently preoccupied. Perhaps they were getting used to her scent. Stiles _was_ over at the base an awful lot.

Erica and Derek quickly found the two arrows that had missed their marks, and also the spot where the hunters had shot from, but the trial went cold at the road where they must have left their car. Derek roared in frustration. Mori watched them run back to their base, but did not follow. There was little else she was going to learn tonight. 

* * *

The next day, Mori was in the woods again. She enjoyed the crinkling that the dry leaves made under her feet when she decided to walk like a normal person. But, once she was deep enough in the forest that she was sure no one would see her, she was off, leaping through trees, silent as a feather drifting to the ground, as invisible as a breeze coursing through the branches. Mori reveled in this, the freedom, the speed, the power. There were many times that she wished she had been born a normal girl, but when she ran through the trees like this, that thought hardly ever crossed her mind.

Suddenly, there was a twig snap; she was not alone in the forest. Settling onto the high branch of an old oak, she paused to listen. There were footsteps in the distance, and the murmuring of voices. They weren't even trying to be quiet. She leapt through the trees towards the sounds, careful to make no sounds of her own. Though her sense of smell was not much better than a typical teenage girl's, her sense of hearing was at least as good as the wolves, and probably a bit better as she had been trained to listen from birth. 

As she moved through the trees, she listened to the footsteps, realizing they were drawing her closer to where Boyd had been shot the night before. She was able to determine by the way that they walked that there were three of them, two men and a woman. As she continued to listen, she realized they were the same footsteps from the night before. These were the hunters that shot Boyd.

She came to a stop directly overhead. 

"This is where we shot one of them," she heard the woman say. She had short dark brown hair and was wearing a form-fitting black leather jacket and khaki pants. "Can you track them, Simon?" she asked the shorter man wearing the black knit cap. 

"Looks like they headed off in that direction," he said, pointing. 

The woman looked where he indicated, nodded and turned back to the others. "All right. Jim, you go back to the car and track us with the GPS. Simon and I are gonna see how far this trail leads. You can meet up with us at the other end."

Jim nodded and headed back the way they came.

"Molly," Simon said, a concerned look on his face. "Are you sure you wanna do this? We're kinda out-gunned here, don't you think?"

Molly scoffed. "Don't think, Simon! Track! That's why you're here! I'm not worried about a bunch of hormonally challenged adolescent wolves and their inept, no experience leader. Getting rid of them will be a piece of cake, and then we can get out of this piece of crap town."

Mori followed them as they picked out the trail that Erica, Isaac and Body had left in their haste to escape. They were much slower than the werewolves, not having the sense of smell to guide them, nor the speed. Still, Mori was surprised at how quickly they came to the edge of town. This was where the pack tended to enter the forest. Their various comings and goings were evidenced by the large number of footprints and the disturbed vegetation in the area. The trail went dead as it was all but impossible to track anyone walking on concrete and asphalt.

Molly pulled her phone out of her pocket and called Jim. "Yeah, we're here," she said when he answered. "Come pick us up, and then we can get set-up for tonight."

"What are we gonna do?" Simon asked.

"Ambush," Molly answered with a knowing smirk. "This is obviously the spot where they come into the forest. If we're lucky, we can be done with this town by morning."

Mori chewed on her bottom lip and thought. Normally, it was her job to dispose of creatures like Derek and his pack, but as far as she could tell, none of them had done anything to deserve that. Unlike some Night Flowers, her family lived by a strict code, and they did not simply kill every supernatural being they came across. Killing the hunters was out of the question; humans were basically off-limits, no matter who they were, but perhaps there was something else she could do. Her parents, and the Night Flowers as a whole, might not be pleased, but she hoped they would understand.

Mori leapt down from her hiding place and ran to the pack's base. Questioning her motives as she went, she almost stopped several times, wondering if she should let the events play out as they would. But, she found herself continually moving closer to the subway station. The wolves, after all, were not so different from her.

She entered the subway station quietly and discovered what she assumed to be the entire pack sitting there watching TV. Erica and Boyd were on the couch next to Derek, who had Stiles on his lap. Derek's arms were wrapped possessively around the boy's waist, and his chin was on Stiles' shoulder. Isaac was sitting on the floor with his back against Boyd and Erica's legs.

"This is so ridiculous!" Stiles was complaining. "I can't believe you're making such a big deal about this. She's just some girl I live with that apparently has some kind of magical ability to completely cover me with her scent!"

The other three wolves snickered, Boyd covering the bottom half of his face with his hand. 

"Did her smell just get stronger?!" Derek asked, sounding very annoyed. 

Erica just shook her head. "You're really obsessed with this girl," she commented, turning her head towards Derek. "You haven't even met her."

Stiles nodded. "See! Erica and I agree on something! You have totally lost your mind, Derek."

Derek shook his head and lifted his nose into the air. "No, her smell is definitely stronger now. There's something weird going on."

Isaac sniffed the air and made a face. "He's right; I smell it too."

Mori let out a breath and released the part of herself that she had been holding at her center, becoming visible again. Her sudden appearance sent the wolves scrambling, Derek unceremoniously dumping Stiles onto the couch.

"That's the girl!" Derek yelled. "That's the smell! Get her!"

Stiles' eyes went wide with shock. "What?! What's going on? Mori?!"

Erica, Boyd and Isaac leapt at her, but she easily jumped out of the way. This was not going at all how she planned. "Wait!" she yelled.

The three betas quickly recovered and were chasing after her again. She could see Derek out of the corner of her eye trying to cut her off as she ran. "Hold on! Just listen to me!" she screamed.

"Look at how she moves!" Derek yelled, ignoring what she was trying to say. "I knew there was something not right about her!"

Mori jumped on top of a subway car, and the three Betas immediately followed. She had gone straight there without bothering to put on her uniform or pick up her knives, not thinking she would need them. But, she always had one or two knives on her, no matter where she went. The Betas were advancing cautiously, Erica and Boyd in front, and Isaac approaching from behind.

 _All right_ , she thought, _if they want a fight, then I will fight._

She turned around and charged towards Isaac, spinning in the air and kicking him in the chest. He went flying off the car as Erica and Boyd lunged at her. Mori shot straight up, flipping as she went so that she landed feet first on the ceiling. Before gravity had a chance to pull her back down, she pushed against the ceiling with her legs, shooting towards the two Betas almost faster than their eyes could follow. The wolves might have her beat in terms of sheer strength, but she was faster than them by far. Almost by instinct, her knife was in her hand, and she plunged it into Erica's shoulder, kicking Boyd in the face, and knocking him off the car. Erica screamed and grabbed Mori's wrist, pulling back as hard as she could. Mori gasped, let go of the knife and found herself flying through the air. 

She hit the wall with a loud thud, and crumpled to the ground. The next thing she knew, someone was picking her up by the front of her jacket and slamming her back against the wall. She squinted at the face of their Alpha, mere inches from her own.

"So, you're the one that's been covering Stiles with her scent," he growled. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Mori figured she could escape if she really wanted to, but for the moment it seemed like they were prepared to listen, so she remained still. Stiles scrambled over to where Derek had her pinned against the wall.

"Oh my God! Mori!" he said, looking at her, mouth gaping with confusion and shock. "What are you doing here? What are you? How…what…?"

"I didn't come here to hurt you," Mori began evenly. "You're the ones that attacked me."

"You're the one that snuck into our base!" Erica yelled, pulling the knife from her shoulder with a grunt and throwing it to the floor. "What was that ninja shit anyway? Who are you?"

Mori narrowed her eyes. "I am a member of the Clan of the Night Flowers. We protect people from… well… we protect people from creatures like you."

Derek slammed her against the wall again, but Mori did not give him the satisfaction of wincing. "So you did come here for us!" he insisted, jabbing the pointer finger of his free hand at her face.

"I only came to observe," Mori argued. "The Night Flowers operate mostly in Japan, and we've never encountered werewolves before. My parents came across some information about your pack, and we thought it prudent to learn more about you."

"Are you even an exchange student?" Stiles asked.

Mori sighed. "Technically yes, but we hacked into the system to make sure that I would be staying with you, since we knew how important you were to the pack."

"Me?" Stiles asked. "Important to the pack?" He smiled and nodded at that, even puffing out his chest a little. Derek rolled his eyes.

"So, your clan just goes around killing things?" Boyd asked.

"No," Mori said, shaking her head. "We have a code."

"Oh, we know all about hunters and their codes!" Erica spat out.

"Why are you here?" Derek repeated.

"I came here to warn you," she answered. "The hunters from last night, they're setting up an ambush for you at the edge of town where you enter the woods."

"Why are you telling us this?" asked Isaac. "Shouldn't you be working _with_ them, or something?"

"I told you," Mori said, narrowing her eyes again. "We do not kill indiscriminately. We have a code. Part of that code means that I also cannot hurt the hunters, because they are human. Poor excuses for humans, but still human. But, that does not mean I have to let them do whatever they want, so I came here to warn you."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Derek asked.

"You can't," Mori replied. "But, trust this." She hid her sense of being inside of herself once again and slipped out of Derek's grasp, disappearing before their eyes and leaving Derek standing with an empty jacket in his hand. She smiled with satisfaction at their collective gasp of surprise. 

"I had multiple opportunities to kill each of you over the last week, but you are all still alive." 

They all spun around, looking for the source of her disembodied voice.

"I am not your enemy."

And with that, she left the station so that they could figure out how to deal with the hunters on their own. She found out later that an anonymous tip to Stiles' dad got the hunters shipped off to the county jail to await trial for illegal possession of firearms.

Once she got back to her room, Mori pulled out the jade mirror. When the jade began to glow, she spoke.

"Father, I have tested the wolves," she began. "They are not a threat to the people of Beacon Hills."

"Are you certain?" he asked.

"Yes, father," she replied. "I presented them with an opportunity to destroy their enemies, human enemies, and they instead had them sent away."

"Are all werewolves like this?" he pressed.

"Assuredly not, father," she answered. "The wolves share many similarities with the Night Flowers. They are human for the most part, and partly not. Some are good, and we must assume some are not, but more importantly, they are capable of love."

"Love?" 

"Yes, father," she said. "The Alpha here is in love with the boy that I am staying with, though he does not yet realize it."

"You have found yourself in an interesting situation indeed, daughter," he said. "How would you propose we proceed?"

"I propose we form an alliance with the wolves, father," she replied. "In return for protecting the people here, we agree to send them help should they ever need it."

"Agreed. We will begin preparations for your next assignment. Contact us once you have made arrangements with the pack."

"Yes, father. May the shadows keep you."

"May the shadows keep you."

There was a knock at her door, as she was putting the mirror away.

"Come in," she called out.

The door opened and Stiles walked into her room. "Hey, Mori," he said waving awkwardly.

"Hello, Stiles," she replied, smiling at him. She patted the bed next to her so that he would sit down.

He sat down next to her and dropped his head, letting out a huff of air. "So, thanks for not killing my friends," he started, smiling when he noticed her smirk. "I should have known you wouldn't just be a normal exchange student."

Mori laughed. "What do you mean?"

Stiles scrunched up his face. "I don't know; it just seems like everyone around me has some kind of secret superpower, like no one is normal anymore." His face grew melancholy. "Normal like me."

Mori smiled. "Do not worry Stiles, there are still plenty of normal people in the world, although it does seem like you have a way of attracting the stranger ones to yourself."

Stiles shrugged and lifted his arms. "It's a gift!" He lowered his arms and looked her in the eyes. "So, ninja, huh? That's like totally awesome!"

"I suppose."

"And, the whole turning invisible thing! I've never seen a werewolf look so confused!" he said laughing. "And, what about the smell thing? What was that?"

Mori felt her face grow red. "That is not a special ability.”

"So, how did you do it?" Stiles asked.

"A girl cannot give away all of her secrets, can she?" she said with a coy smile.

"I guess not. So, you're leaving now?" he asked. "You made sure the werewolves weren't gonna kill anybody, and now you have to go?"

She nodded, then sighed sadly. “There are a lot of strange things in the world, Stiles, and not enough Night Flowers. But, before I go, I must speak with your Alpha."

"He's not my Alpha," Stiles protested.

Mori's only response to that was a knowing smile. "Can you take me with you when you go to visit them tomorrow?"

"Sure," he said, getting up from the bed. "I kind of wish you were staying. I was starting to like having you around."

"I liked being here, too," she said, her voiced laced with melancholy, heavy with the years of constantly moving from one place to another, never getting to really know anyone. Never really having the chance to make any friends. She smiled sadly, then looked into Stiles' eyes. "Good night, Stiles."

"Good night, Mori."

* * *

Mori followed Stiles into the subway station. He had chatted incessantly on the car ride over, but now that they had arrived, he had become strangely silent. They entered the space that the wolves were using as a living room, and they all stood up at her appearance. Erica eyed her suspiciously, but other than that, there were no outward signs of aggression from the wolves.

"What are you doing here?" Derek asked.

"I have come to offer an alliance," she said.

"An alliance?" Derek asked, clearly confused. "An alliance for what?"

"An alliance with the Clan of the Night Flowers. In exchange for protecting the people of Beacon Hills, we will not hunt you, and we will send you aid if you ever need it."

"Why would we do that?" asked Boyd.

"There are many things in this world, a lot of them much more powerful than werewolves. The Night Flowers, for instance," she said smiling in playful challenge. "Some are good, some are bad. We have decided that the werewolf pack of Beacon Hills is good, but you may find yourselves outnumbered or outmatched someday, and we would only be a phone call away."

"What do you get out of this?" Derek asked.

"The Night Flowers have dedicated themselves to protecting the world's human population from supernatural threats. Unfortunately, ours is not a large clan, and we cannot be everywhere. By allying ourselves with you, we would know that Beacon Hills and the surrounding areas would be relatively safe for the people that live here."

"But, we would protect them anyway," Derek said.

"I know," she said, "that is why this alliance should be an easy one for you to make."

Derek thought about it for a while, then nodded. "Fine. We'll be your allies."

"Good," Mori said, dipping her head. "I will let my father know." She considered Derek for a moment before continuing. "I will be leaving for my next assignment, soon. I wish you all the best of luck." She turned to go, but Derek called out to her.

"What made you decide this?" he asked. "Why an alliance instead of killing us?"

"It was because of Stiles," she said, looking at the gangly teenager standing next to her. "And, you," she continued, looking at Derek. "The creatures we deal with are for the most part not human, or they used to be human but are not anymore. Werewolves are still human, at least as much as the Night Flowers are. You are still capable of love, and we do not see that a lot with what we do. It must be protected."

"What is she talking about?" asked Isaac.

"Pfft! Like you don't know!" Erica scoffed. "She's talking about how Derek is totally in love with Stiles."

"I'm what?!?" Derek blurted out.

Stiles was opening and closing his mouth like a fish, but no sounds were coming out. Mori gave him a thoughtful look before withdrawing into herself and becoming invisible. As she walked away, she could hear the sounds of the pack arguing, about who knew what and who was in love with whom, but Stiles had yet to add his voice to the fray before they were beyond the range of her hearing.

When Stiles got back to his house, all of Mori's things were gone. He didn't know how he was going to explain that to his dad, but it seemed like he had more important things to think about, like Derek's apparent crush on him. In his room, on a neatly folded piece of paper, he found the note that Mori had left on his desk.

Dear Stiles,

I apologize that I had to leave  
without saying goodbye, but there is a  
situation in San Francisco that requires my  
immediate attention. 

I have a feeling we will be seeing more of each  
other in the not so distant future. In the meantime,  
I pray you and your pack stay safe.

\- Mori

Stiles bit his bottom lip, crumpled the note and tossed it into the trash. Ever since Scott had been bitten, things had just gotten crazier and crazier. What was next? Vampires? His utter nonchalance at Mori’s note was testament to the fact that his life was beyond weird now, and he was getting so used to it that a ninja leaving a note on his desk would probably end up being one of the less weird things that would happen to him that week.  
He scrunched up his face and scrubbed the back of his head with his fingertips. Picking up his phone, he fired off a text to Scott. He needed a dose of normal right now, and nothing was better for that than kicking Scott’s ass at video games and gorging on some pizza.


	2. Daughter of the Night Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What the hell was that?" asked Derek. "And, what is this glowing thing the three of you keep talking about? I don't see anything glowing!"
> 
> "You don't?" Stiles asked, confused.
> 
> "He's not supposed to," Mori answered for him. "And, neither are you! You can see me glowing?"
> 
> "Yeah," Stiles answered, "although, I probably wouldn't say glowing? It kind of looks like there's glowing smoke coming off of you."
> 
> "That's right," Mori said. "Mystical beings give off mystical energy in different ways. This is just what it looks like for Night Flowers. Werewolves are new for us, so we don't have anything that can show us what their energy signatures look like. 'Essence of the Night' is only supposed to allow Night Flowers to see other Night Flowers. It shouldn't work on you. That, plus the fact that you seem to draw and be drawn to every supernatural creature in a fifty mile radius… I'm starting to think you are not a simple teenage boy, Stiles Stilinski, but there's only one way for me to find out." She paused, thinking. "I will have to kiss you."
> 
> Derek was immediately on his feet, standing in front of Stiles, and baring his teeth at Mori. "Over my dead body," he growled.

Mori rang the doorbell, listening to the sound reverberate throughout the house. When the door opened, she was confronted with Sheriff Stilinski's smiling face.

"Mori!" he exclaimed. "You're back!"

Mori quickly bowed, feigning embarrassment. "Thank you for allowing me to return, Mr. Stilinski."

"Oh, no! Please, it's not a problem," he said, waving aside the implied apology. "We're just glad your mother is okay."

Mori straightened from her bow, and returned a small smile. "Thank you, Mr. Stilinski. My mother is doing quite well."

She had instructed Stiles to tell his father that her mother had been in an accident, and Mori had to leave right away because the doctors were afraid she might not have much time left. It had been over a month since Mori left.

Stiles came scrambling up behind her with her suitcases. "Hi, Dad!"

"Hello, Stiles," he said as Stiles pushed his way past both Mori and his father with his arms full of luggage.

Mori covered her hand with her mouth and giggled softly.

"So, everything was fine with your flight? No problems at the airport?" the Sheriff asked.

Mori nodded. "Everything went fine." 

She had been in San Francisco during the last month, dealing with a Chinese gang that had started to trade in mystical objects that the Night Flowers found objectionable. Stiles had been able to convince his dad to let him pick up Mori from the airport alone, saving Mori from having to make it look like she was arriving on an international flight.

"Well, come on in," the Sheriff said, taking a step back and gesturing to the inside of the house. "Your room is pretty much the same as how you left it."

Mori dipped her head. "Thank you, Mr. Stilinski," she said, as she once again entered the Stilinski home.

"Is everything all set with the school?" he asked.

"Yes," Mori answered, smiling brightly. "They were very understanding. I will be picking up where I left off."

"Good," Mr. Stilinski replied, nodding. "And, what about a phone? Have you gotten a phone yet?"

Mori shook her head and forced herself to blush. "No, I have not had a chance to get one yet."

"Hey, Stiles!" he yelled up the stairs.

"Yeah, Dad?" Stile quickly answered, popping into view. 

"You need to take Mori to the mall after school tomorrow, so she can get a phone."

"Yeah sure, no problem," Stiles quickly answered, nodding his head. He smiled at Mori. "You ready to check out an American mall?"

"It sounds like fun!" she replied, smiling up at him. 

"Come on," Stiles said, waving her up the stairs. "I'll help you unpack."

Mori smiled quickly at the Sheriff and made her way to her room. She giggled when she got there and found Stiles holding out a small bundle of fabric strips. 

"I found them," he said with an accusing grin, waving the bundle at her. 

Mori continued to laugh as Stiles spoke.

"I kept smelling like you, weeks after you were gone! I thought Derek was going to lose his mind! So, thanks for that, I guess," he said, tossing the bundle to Mori.

She caught it and sat down on the bed. "How did you find them?"

"I had Scott come over and sniff all of them out a few days ago," he said with a smirk. "I knew you had to have left something behind, so I asked him to come smell my room, and he found all of them in like two minutes. Very sneaky, by the way," he said with a nod and an eyebrow wiggle.

Mori laughed and set the bundle on the nightstand. She noticed that all of the strips were from her own shirt. None of them were from the shirt she had taken from Stiles and cut up into strips to hide in her own room, which meant he must not have found those, but she chose not to mention it.

"So," she began, a impish look on her face. "How are things going between you and your Alpha?"

"He's not my Alpha," Stiles said.

"Right," Mori said, just a touch too sincerely.

Stiles blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Okay, I guess." He sat down next to her, and smiled softly. "We're taking it slow."

Mori remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"Yeah," Stiles replied, "I don't know. He's not really the kind of guy that shares a lot, you know?" Stiles wrinkled his brow. "I keep getting the feeling that there's something he's not telling me, like he had a bad break-up before, or something.” Stiles paused, scrubbing the back of his head. “We've been together for less than a month. I don't even know if I should say that we're together, only it seems like everyone else just assumes that we are, so…" Stiles trailed off with a sigh. "I'm not even really sure how I feel about him, you know?"

Mori smirked. "I'm sure he'll open up to you eventually. In the meantime, we have other things to talk about."

"That's right!" Stiles said, raising his eyebrows. "You said you were coming back on Night Flowers business, but you never said what it was. Are you staying at Casa de Stilinski because it's convenient, or are you using me to get close to someone again?"

"Both," Mori answered with a mischievous grin. "I'm here because of Lydia."

"Lydia?" Stiles parroted back in surprise.

"Yes," Mori said, nodding solemnly. "My mother did some research on Lydia's great grandmother. One of the families of the Night Flowers disappeared around the time that she would have been alive. It was the Koga family. There was not a lot of information, but from what my mother could find, they were investigating something in Akita prefecture when they just vanished. No one knows what happened to them; everyone thought they were all gone. But somehow, Lydia is here, and we think she might be a Koga."

Stiles swallowed. "So what does that mean?" he asked. "Does she have special powers or something?"

"If it turns out that Lydia is a Night Flower, then she could be very powerful indeed," Mori answered. "She will need to be trained though, which is why my parents asked me to return here, to find out if she really is a Night Flower, and to train her if she is."

"Wow," Stiles replied. "Lydia is scary enough as it is. I can't imagine how scary she would be as a ninja."

Mori laughed. "We're not ninjas, Stiles! We're Night Flowers."

"What's the difference?"

Mori cocked her head to one side. "You know, I don't really know."

* * *

Mori held her books to her chest as she walked down the hall with Stiles at her side. The students of Beacon Hills High flowed around them like a river, babbling like water splashing over stones.

"I need you to help me talk to Lydia," Mori was saying. "You need to get her to agree to meet with us alone after school."

"I don't know," Stiles said, shaking his head. "She's still pretty shaken up about all that stuff with Peter and how Jackson just up and left. I mean, I know that was all over a year ago now, but some things you don't just get over, you know? Plus, she doesn't even really know you. Don't you think that'll sound weird? 'Hey, Lydia! Come hang out with me and Mori after school! We promise you won't die!'"

"Of course it will sound weird if you say it like that!" Mori hissed at him. "Just do not tell her that I will be there, then. Don't you always have something you need to study for, anyway?"

"Actually, our trigonometry mid-term is coming up," Stiles admitted. "I actually could use help with that, and Lydia's a whiz at math."

"Perfect!" Mori exclaimed with a little bounce. "Have her come by the house after school. I will meet you there!"

Mori took off at a run down the hall before Stiles could protest. Taking a deep breath, he turned in to his classroom with a forced look of resignation on his face.

Later that night, Mori watched from her window as Stiles pulled up in his Jeep. Lydia had followed him in her own car. Naturally, as soon as Lydia got close enough to him, Stiles started talking animatedly, making big gestures with his arms while Lydia listened, a slightly exasperated look on her face. 

Mori opened the false bottom of her suitcase to look at her vials of powders. She selected one vial filled with a deep purple dust. It was called "Essence of the Night." It was rarely used. Night Flowers were born, not made, so they almost never had to determine whether a person was a Night Flower or not. It only took one parent for a person to be born a Night Flower, and Mori had never heard of any exceptions to this rule. Of course, if Lydia turned out to be a Night Flower, that would mean that one of her parents was a Night Flower as well.

Mori opened the vial, and breathed in the scent. It was musky and floral, earthy and sweet. It would not take much. She dipped her pointer finger into it, lightly dusting the tip. As she rubbed her thumb and pointer finger together, the dust disappeared and the scent of the powder filled the room like perfume. She could feel all the hairs of her body tingling as everything around her came into sharper focus. Pushing the stopper back in the vial, she put it away and listened as Stiles led Lydia to his room.

After a few minutes, Mori knocked on Stiles' door.

"Come in!" he yelled.

Mori opened the door and gave them a little wave.

"Oh! Hi, Mori!" Stiles said, feigning surprise. "You remember Mori, right Lydia?"

"Hi, Mori," Lydia said with a polite smile.

"It is good to see you again," Mori said, stepping into the room and holding out her hand in greeting. As she looked at Lydia, she could see pale tendrils of periwinkle light coming off of her body like smoke. Lydia was a Night Flower.

Lydia took Mori's hand into her own and gave it a firm shake. 

"What is that gorgeous smell?" Lydia exclaimed, with a gasp. "Is that your perfume?"

Mori smiled. This opening was more than she could of hoped for. She quickly swiped the thumb she had covered with the dust across her wrist, and held it out for Lydia to smell.

"Yes," Mori answered. "It is called 'Essence of the Night.'"

Lydia held onto Mori's hand with both of hers and held her nose to Mori's wrist as she breathed in deep. 

"I need to have this!" Lydia proclaimed, shivering slightly. "I swear I can feel it shooting down my spine! Where did you get it?"

"My mother made it, actually," Mori explained. 

"Really?" Lydia asked, her eyes growing wide.

Mori smiled. "Yes. I can give you some if you like."

Mori watched as Lydia's excited nod slowed and a look of confusion spread across her face. 

After blinking rapidly a few times, Lydia finally spoke. "Mori, why are you glowing?" Lydia lifted up her hands and held them in front of her face. She turned them to look at her palms, then back again. "Why am I glowing?" she asked, fear seeping into her voice.

Lydia quickly turned to Stiles. "He's not glowing!" she exclaimed, almost accusingly. "Oh my God! What's happening?!"

"Lydia, you need to calm down," Stiles said, holding out his hands.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Lydia snapped, on the verge of cracking. "Do you have any idea what I've been through this last year!? What is this?! Why is this happening to me?!"

They all whipped their heads around when they heard Stiles' window opening.

"What's going on in here?" Derek asked, stepping into the room. 

Mori saw Stiles almost start to smile at Derek's appearance, but he quickly suppressed it.

"Derek, what are you doing here?" Stiles asked, all seriousness.

"I heard Lydia yelling, so I decided I needed to come inside," he answered. Derek looked over to Mori and sneered. "I thought I smelled something funny."

Mori gave him an innocent smile.

"Look, Derek," Stiles said, getting up. "Now's not really a good time."

"No, wait!" Mori exclaimed. "He can help!"

"Help?" Derek asked, raising an eyebrow. "How?"

"Do not worry," Mori replied, "you don't have to do anything, just stand there." She turned to Lydia. "All right, Lydia. What do you see when you look at Derek?"

Lydia almost looked like she was afraid to turn in Derek's direction, but when she finally did, she looked him over carefully.

"What am I supposed to see?" she asked, hesitantly. "I just see Derek."

"It's okay, you are doing fine," Mori said. "Now what do you see when you look at me?"

"You're glowing," Lydia said incredulously, gesturing her hands at Mori. "Why are you glowing?!" 

She sounded like she was going to start freaking out again, so Stiles put his hand on her shoulder. Mori noticed the muscles in Derek's face grow tight at the gesture.

"It will be okay, Lydia," Mori said. "Now, look at Stiles. What do you see?"

Lydia turned to Stiles. "It's Stiles. He looks normal."

"Right," Mori replied, encouragingly. "Lydia, do you remember when I was here last time, I asked if you might be part Japanese?"

Lydia nodded carefully.

"Well, I had my mother look into your ancestry," Mori continued.

"You what?" Lydia asked, confused.

"It turns out, we are kind of related," Mori said with a shrug. "You are a Night Flower."

"So, whatever you did," Stiles said, jumping in. "It makes Night Flowers glow, right? That's why you and Lydia are both glowing, but me and Derek aren't?"

"What?" asked Mori, turning quickly to Stiles.

"Isn't that why you're glowing?" Stiles asked.

"Wait, you can see it?" asked Mori.

"Well yeah, I have eyes," Stiles answered like he was stating the obvious.

"See what?" asked Derek, as frustration battled with confusion for dominance on his face.

"Okay," Mori began, nodding slowly. "I will have to deal with you later," she said to Stiles. "But, right now, we are here for Lydia."

"What is everyone seeing?" Derek asked angrily, throwing his arms wide. Frustration had clearly won the battle.

Mori whipped around and shoved her finger at Derek's face, yelling, "Not now, Derek!"

Stiles quickly jumped between Mori and Derek when he noticed Derek on the verge of wolfing out. Derek wasn't used to people talking to him like that.

"Hey, buddy!" Stiles said, with his arm around Derek's waist. He was clearly trying to pull him back, but Derek wasn't budging. "Why don't we go sit on my bed and let Mori and Lydia talk, okay?"

Derek finally relented and allowed Stiles to tug him to the bed, where they sat and watched as Mori spoke with Lydia. Stiles tried to keep him calm by running his fingers trough the hair at the back of Derek's head.

"Lydia," Mori began, "I know that you have seen a lot. You know about werewolves now, and kanimas, and I am assuming you are smart enough to know that there are other…strange…things in the world as well?"

Lydia blinked at Mori, but she did not respond.

"Well, I am one of those things," Mori said, placing a hand on her own chest. "I belong to the Clan of the Night Flowers. We are a secret organization that deals with the supernatural, like werewolves and kanimas, but we specialize in anything that might be dangerous. It is our job to protect people who would otherwise have no defense against those kinds of things."

"Why are you telling me this?" Lydia asked.

"Well, that perfume that you were smelling earlier? Stiles was right, it does make Night Flowers glow." Mori could sense Derek bristling at the mention of the glowing he could not see, but he remained silent. "Stiles is human," Mori paused for a moment, realizing she might have to reassess that statement later. "Derek is a werewolf. Neither of them are glowing. You and I glow. You and I are Night Flowers."

"What does that mean?" Lydia asked, her eyes filled with doubt.

"It means you're a ninja!" Stiles exclaimed from the bed. 

Mori smiled. "I probably would not use that term, but essentially, yes. With training, you should be able to do all of the things I can do."

"Like what?" Lydia pressed.

"Well, you have already experienced 'Essence of the Night,'" Mori began. "You would have to learn how to use the various powders that we employ in our work, and how to make them. I will have to teach you how to listen…"

"I have really good hearing," Lydia cut in, with a whisper.

"I am sure that as true," Mori said, "but with the right training, you will be able to hear better than a werewolf. I could teach you how to make yourself invisible…."

Lydia's eyes went wide. "Really?"

"It's true!" Stiles added, excitedly. "Even Derek couldn't see her! Hey!" Stiles exclaimed when Derek elbowed him in the ribs. "What? It's true!" Stiles said in response to Derek's glare.

"And, I would teach you how to fight," Mori said. "You are very strong, Lydia Martin; you just do not know it yet. With the proper training, you could even take down a werewolf," she concluded, ignoring Derek growling behind her.

"I'll do it!" Lydia said, suddenly. "I'm tired of being afraid. How do I become one of these Night Flower things?"

"It is in your blood," Mori said. "We have a saying in our clan. 'With light and water, every seed can flower.' I will be your light and water, Lydia."

Lydia nodded with determination. "When do we start?"

"Soon," Mori said. "Had we known about you, your training would have begun when you first started to walk. We cannot get those years back. Fortunately, the blood of the Night Flowers is strong. But first, I need to talk to Stiles. My room is just down the hall; could you wait for me there?"

"Sure," Lydia said, nodding as she walked to the door. "Mori?" Lydia said, pausing in the doorway.

"Yes?"

"Thank you," Lydia said, with a small smile. 

"You are welcome," Mori replied.

Lydia dipped her head, and closed the door behind her.

"What the hell was that?" asked Derek. "And, what is this glowing thing the three of you keep talking about? I don't see anything glowing!"

"You don't?" Stiles asked, confused.

"He is not supposed to," Mori answered for him. "And, neither are you! You can see me glowing?"

"Yeah," Stiles answered, "although, I probably wouldn't say glowing? It kind of looks like there's glowing smoke coming off of you."

"That is right," Mori said. "Mystical beings give off mystical energy in different ways. This is just what it looks like for Night Flowers. Werewolves are new for us, so we do not have anything that can show us what their energy signatures look like. 'Essence of the Night' is only supposed to allow Night Flowers to see other Night Flowers. It should not work on you. That, plus the fact that you seem to draw and be drawn to every supernatural creature in a fifty-mile radius… I am starting to think you are not a simple teenage boy, Stiles Stilinski, but there is only one way for me to find out." She paused, thinking. "I will have to kiss you."

Derek was immediately on his feet, standing in front of Stiles, and baring his teeth at Mori. "Over my dead body," he growled.

"I'm just kidding!" Mori said laughing. "Calm down! You _are_ a sourwolf!"

Derek turned around and glared at Stiles. "You told her about that?" he accused. It came out sounding almost like a whine.

Stiles shrugged and blushed. 

"I am going to go talk to Lydia, but I will be right back." She left the room to the sounds of Derek and Stiles arguing, and she smiled to herself.

She found Lydia in her room, sitting on the bed, waiting.

"What do I do first?" Lydia asked.

"The first thing you need to do is go home and let all of this sink in," Mori said. "The knowledge of who you are might be enough to awaken certain aspects of yourself, and I want you to try to tune yourself into that. You must be intentional in your listening tonight. Try to hear things that you never thought you would have been able to hear before. See if you can lift things that you used to think were too heavy."

"Like what?" Lydia asked.

"Well, you could start with your car."

"My car?!" Lydia asked in surprise. "Are you serious?" 

Mori smiled and shrugged. "You never know. Oh, one more thing! Do you know which side of your family the Japanese part comes from?"

"It's my father's side," Lydia answered.

"When will you be seeing him again?"

"Next week," Lydia answered, rolling her eyes. "Why?"

"Well," Mori began, pouring some "Essence of the Night" into an empty vial. "It is more than likely that your father is also a Night Flower. Before you see him, open this vial and breathe in the scent. If your father is a Night Flower, he will glow in the same way that we are glowing now. The effects of the powder last for about an hour."

"If he is a Night Flower, does that mean we have to tell him about all of this?" Lydia asked hesitantly, her brow furrowing in concern.

"Only if you want to tell him," Mori answered. "I can train you because you are still quite young. You father is in his fifties now, right?"

Lydia nodded. 

"I believe he is past the point where he could ever take on the mantle of a Night Flower. He would still have the natural gifts that would allow him to be faster and stronger than a normal person, but he would never be able to reach the heights of power that you will, given the proper training. Do you want him to know about this?"

"Not really," Lydia said, shaking her head.

"Like I said, it is up to you. We just want to make sure for our own records." Mori said as she shoved a stopper in the vial and handed it to Lydia.

"Since my father is an only child, and he doesn't have any cousins, then it's just the two of us, right?" Lydia asked.

"Yes," Mori answered, nodding.

"How did this happen?" Lydia asked. "Why didn’t we know about any of this?"

"We are not entirely sure what happened," Mori said. "What we do know is that one of the Night Flower families disappeared around the time that your great grandmother would have been alive. We had no idea you existed until now."

"What was their name?"

"Koga."

Lydia nodded solemnly. "I won't let my family down."

"I know," Mori said.

Lydia smiled and left the room. Mori put the "Essence of the Night" away, and selected another bottle, almost as infrequently used. This one was for Stiles. She walked into Stiles' room and discovered Stiles laying on top of Derek, making out with him on the bed. They were writhing against each other, Stiles with his hand on the sides of Derek's face, and Derek's hands on Stiles' hips. Assuming they had heard her come in, she waited patiently for them to stop, but she realized they weren't going to when Derek started to moan.

"Ahem," Mori coughed to get their attention.

Stiles gasped and rolled off of Derek. "Geez! Don't you knock?"

"I told you I was coming right back!" Mori countered. 

"What is that?' Derek asked about the vial that Mori was holding. He wrinkled his nose. "God! It smells disgusting!"

Mori nodded seriously. "You do not want to know what it is made of. It is called 'Dance of a Thousand Spirits.' This is what we are going to use to find out if Stiles is what I think he is."

"What are you gonna do with it?" Stiles asked, suddenly afraid.

"Do not worry, it is not for you," Mori reassured him. "It is for me and Derek."

"Me?" Derek asked, sitting up.

"Do you not want to see for yourself if Stiles is something more than human?" Mori asked.

Derek eyed her suspiciously for a moment, but eventually nodded.

Mori carefully shook out two miniscule grains from the vial into her palm, and then set the vial on the desk. She held her hand out to Derek, and he held his hand out in response. She used one of her fingers to gently nudged one of the grains into Derek's palm. He held the tiny black speck away from him as if it was tainted, which was a fair assessment, given its smell. 

"What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked, trying not to gag.

"Eat it," Mori said, licking the grain off of her hand and swallowing before she could get much of the taste in her mouth.

"Are you serious?" Derek asked, looking stricken.

Mori shrugged. "Only if you want to see what I am talking about."

Derek looked at Stiles who was giving him as innocent of a grin as he could muster. Derek shook his head in resignation.

"You're lucky I like you so much," he said as he licked the grain off of his palm. 

He immediately started to choke and gag, and he looked like he was going to throw up. In that moment, Mori was glad that her sense of taste and smell were not as strong as a werewolf's. Derek took a few deep breaths after swallowing the speck before looking up at Mori.

"Now what?" he asked, his eyes watering.

"Now we wait," she answered. "I have never used this before, so I am not sure exactly how long it is supposed to take to work, but it should not take long."

"What's supposed to happen?" Stiles asked.

"We need to see if you give off any kind of mystical energy." Mori smiled. "We need to see if you start glowing."

"Oh my God," Derek said slowly, as if in awe.

Mori looked quickly at Derek, back to Stiles, and then back at Derek again. "I don't see anything, yet. Do you see something?"

"His eyes," Derek said, slowly shaking his head like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "It's amazing."

Mori stared into Stiles' eyes. As she watched, they began to glow, brighter and brighter as if they were turning into tiny suns. She eventually had to squint and shield her face from the brightness, but Derek just kept looking as tears streamed down his face.

"Stiles," he gasped, softly. "You're so beautiful," he said, breathing out the words like a prayer.

Derek lifted his hands to Stiles' head, and pulled him closer, pressing their lips together. Stiles, closed his eyes and kissed him back, and Mori was able to lower her hand now that the light streaming out of Stiles' eyes was cut off. Derek and Stiles kissed softly and gently, neither of them making a sound. This wasn't the youthful, lustful passion that Mori had walked in on earlier. She could hear their hearts beating together in unison, strong and steady, their breaths languid and deep. If they weren't in love before, they certainly were now.

"Look," Mori began, feeling a little guilty. "I hate to interrupt this moment that the two of you are having, but we actually have something very important to talk about."

Stiles slowly pulled away from Derek. Derek's expression was so happy and hopeful that he didn't want to turn away, but Stiles did look at Mori and smiled, his eyes their normal beautiful brown once again. Apparently, for all of its pungency, the effects of "Dance of a Thousand Spirits" did not last long.

"I do not know if you are going to be happy about this or not," Mori said, "but it would seem that you are a Spirit Walker."

Stiles took a deep breath, nodded once, and then said, "Okay. What is that?"

"We do not know how it happens, but every once in a while, a person is born who has a special connection to the mystical energies of the world," Mori replied. "It means you can see things. You notice things that other people do not. And, it also means that whether you like it or not, people like us, people like me and Derek, will always be drawn to you."

"Is that it?" Stiles asked. "I can see things?"

"No," Mori said, "but to be honest, I do not know a lot about Spirit Walkers. There are not a lot of you out there. The Night Flowers only know of three, well four now that we know about you. I know that it means you have a special affinity for the arcane, like what you told me about that time with the mountain ash, and how Deaton said you had to be the spark. I think this has something to do with that."

"So what do I do?" asked Stiles. "Just keep on the look out for anything weird?"

"No, you need to be trained," Mori said. "Luckily, one of the Spirit Walkers that we know about is also a Night Flower. I will contact my parents and see if he can be sent here."

Stiles frowned, but it kind of looked like a smile. "Great," he said. "As if my life wasn't weird enough."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "first chapter" of this endeavor was really only supposed to be a one-shot, but I found the idea of the Clan of the Night Flowers so interesting, that my mind couldn't put the story down. Plus I thought it was unfair to leave Lydia's story unresolved. This chapter was originally much longer, but I realized the last part actually needed to be the start of a completely new chapter. So what started out as a one-shot, became what I thought would be a 3 chapter story, and has now grown (in my mind at least) into something that I think will have to be at least 5 chapters long. We'll see...


	3. Spirit Walker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I don't trust this guy being alone with you," Derek said, turning to Stiles. "I can hear his heartbeat. It changes when he looks at you."
> 
> Stiles turned to look at Kaede, his face desperately trying to telegraph, "What's wrong with you? I told you he was going to be like this!" Kaede gave him a shy smile. Derek held his finger up again and shook his head.
> 
> "Uh-uh," he said, very seriously. "None of that. You might be a Night Flower, but I will still kick your ass!"

The doorbell rang. Stiles was starting to think that this was almost never a good thing. He rushed downstairs to open the door. When he opened it, his heart leapt into his throat and he had to fight to stop himself from doubling over because his stomach had suddenly decided it needed to do a somersault, right now! Standing in the other side of the door was quite possibly the most beautiful human being Stiles had ever laid eyes on, which was saying a lot considering the company he kept nowadays.

The man standing in front of him…. boy? …man? Stiles guessed he was a year or two older than himself. He was as tall as Derek, though not as stocky, but as far as Stiles could tell, he spent almost as much time working out as Derek did. His black hair was swept up into soft spikes, and Stiles had to restrain himself from touching it. Stiles found himself the subject of almond eyes that were so dark they seemed almost purple, framed by the longest eyelashes Stiles had ever seen. Soft full lips were smiling suggestively at him, the faint traces of a five o'clock shadow over a lantern jaw and cleft chin. His smile spoke with an amusement that made it obvious he was used to getting noticed.

"H-hi," Stiles whimpered, like someone had punched him in the guts.

"Hello," the man said with a deep smooth voice and an easily identifiable Japanese accent. "I am Kaede Yoshida. I was told you were expecting me."

"Y-yes?" Stiles stammered. How in the world did he end up in the land of the beautiful people? He coughed and tried to regain some of his dignity. "Yes," he repeated, holding out his hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Stiles."

Kaede grabbed Stiles' hand with both of his and bowed. For the briefest of moments, Stiles thought Kaede was going to kiss his hand. It quickly became clear that was not going to happen, but the thought of it, plus the fact that Kaede was touching him, made Stiles weak in the knees. Stiles' brain was racing in directions that he had no control over. What would Derek think of Kaede's scent on Stiles' hand? He was going to have to wash it after Kaede left.

Kaede observed Stiles' reactions carefully as they introduced themselves to each other. Kaede was no fool; he knew exactly what he looked like and he had been trained to use his looks for the express purpose of infiltration and information gathering. All of the Night Flowers were. Still, he couldn't remember the last time he'd had quite an effect like this on anyone. Perhaps, he thought, it had to do with how young Stiles was. Kaede was used to going after much older marks, both men and women, and he always got what he wanted. 

As he followed Stiles up to his room, he had to remind himself that Stiles was in fact not a mark. He was there to train Stiles in the ways of a Spirit Walker. True, he had only ever trained other Night Flowers before, and he himself had only once met with one other Spirit Walker, and then only for a few hours, but his superiors were confident that Stiles would benefit from his experience.

"So, this is my room," Stiles was saying. "And, Mori's room is over there," he said pointing. "She's over at Lydia's right now, Night Flower training stuff, I guess. You know Mori, right?"

"Yes," Kaede said, "but we are only acquaintances. I have not seen her in many years."

"So, no big annual Night Flower gatherings, or anything like that?" Stiles asked.

Kaede gave him as quizzical look, and Stiles waved the question away. "Never mind," he said, laughing. "Ninjas probably don't have time for stuff like that."

"Ninjas?" Kaede asked.

"Oh! Ha, ha!" Stiles laughed nervously, "No! It's just… uh…inside joke. Never mind."

Kaede stepped closer to Stiles, their faces mere inches away. "Do I make you nervous, Stiles?" he asked.

"Y-yes?" Stiles squeaked.

Kaede listened to Stiles' rapidly accelerating heartbeat. It was like a humming bird buzzing from flower to flower. Of course, he knew he was making Stiles nervous before he asked. That was what he was good at. He could see why the Alpha werewolf would be interested in this one, though. The enormous brown eyes, beautiful mouth that was just begging to be kissed. Kaede leaned forward, but Stiles ducked away.

"Oh my God!" Stiles exclaimed, hands on his head. He started to kind of spin and pace at the same time. "We cannot do that! We SO cannot do that! Because first, Derek would kill you, and then Derek would kill me, and then he would kill you again, and then he would probably jump off a bridge, and no! No! We cannot do that! Why? What?" he was gesturing now, and Kaede could not help but smile at his outburst.

"Why are you smiling?" Stiles asked, looking horrified. "This isn't funny! You think this is funny? My boyfriend…um…well…not my boyfriend…or I guess maybe my boyfriend, but like this guy that I'm seeing, which I'm sure you already know about because I'm sure they told you before they sent you here, but he's a werewolf! Like, the _Alpha_ werewolf! Are you crazy?"

Kaede shrugged and then stretched out on Stiles bed with his hands behind his head. "You cannot blame me for trying, right?" he asked with a suggestive smile.

"No!" Stiles exclaimed, rushing to the bed. "You have to get up! You can't lay there! You're gonna make me smell like you!"

Stiles had just succeeded in getting Kaede off of his bed when his window opened. Kaede watched as Derek stepped into the room and sniffed the air.

"Who is this?" Derek asked, eyeing Kaede suspiciously.

"Derek," Stiles began carefully, "this is Kaede Yoshida."

Derek sniffed at Kaede. "You smell like Mori." It was obvious, even to Kaede, who had only just met Derek, that he did not mean it as a compliment.

"He's the Night Flower that's also a Spirit Walker," Stiles said, by way of explanation. "Remember? Mori had him sent here to train me?"

"Oh, really?" Derek said, incredulously. 

"Yes, really!" Stiles exclaimed. "Why else would he be here?"

"That's not what it sounded like when I was on my way over," Derek said, with crossed arms and a stubborn frown.

"Look," Kaede began, with hands raised in what he thought was a gesture of peace, "I really am here to train Stiles. I have never attempted to teach another Spirit Walker before, so some of my other training may have gotten in the way."

Kaede noticed Derek finally noticing him, really noticing him, first with widened eyes, and then an angry stare.

"I don't want you training Stiles when I'm not around!" Derek announced, pointing an angry finger at Kaede.

"What?! Are you serious?" Stiles asked, throwing his arms wide. "Why?"

"I don't trust this guy being alone with you," Derek said, turning to Stiles. "I can hear his heartbeat. It changes when he looks at you."

Stiles turned to look at Kaede, his face desperately trying to telegraph, _What's wrong with you? I told you he was going to be like this!_ Kaede gave him a shy smile. Derek held his finger up again and shook his head.

"Uh-uh," he said, very seriously. "None of that. You might be a Night Flower, but I will still kick your ass!"

Kaede smirked. "Your confidence is admirable, if misplaced. But, do not worry. It is clear to me how Stiles feels about you. As long as you are together, I will not pursue him." No one in the room missed the implied promise of what would happen should Stiles and Derek's relationship end. "I will go now, and give you two a chance to discuss things. I will return tomorrow; around five?" He pressed his hands together under his chin and gave a slight nod to each of them. "Good night, Derek. Good night, Stiles."

He could feel them watching him as he walked away, and he smiled to himself. Knowing that Derek would be listening, he did not give in to the temptation to stay and try to hear what they would say in his absence. Kaede mulled over his impressions of them both. He had to admit that Derek was quite handsome, but so obviously in love with Stiles it would be pointless to try anything with him. Part of him was excited about the possibility of seducing Stiles away from Derek, but he didn't know if that was personal desire, or some perverse instinct he had picked up doing his work as a Night Flower. Perhaps he could find a moment to discuss it with Mori.

She would still be at the Martin girl's house, and he did not want to disturb them. Imagine! Finding a Night Flower in the United States! Two actually, if you counted her father, who they had all decided would not be told about the clan. It was unprecedented. He decided that he needed to meet this Martin girl as well. Not knowing what else to do, he made his way to the McCall house, where he was staying. Like Mori, he was there as a foreign exchange student, and would be going to school and taking classes. It would be interesting to see how the wolves interacted with the normal humans. From the information he was given, they tried to blend in as much as possible, and it was only the newly made werewolves that had trouble any time the moon was full. Still, he had heard stories of werewolves that did not behave as the Beacon Hills pack behaved, and he wondered if he would run into any of those.

He let himself in with the key the Mrs. McCall had given him.

"Scott! Is that you?" she called out from the kitchen.

"No! It is Kaede," he called back, as he walked towards the kitchen.

"Oh!" she called out when she almost ran into him at the kitchen door. "Sorry!" she said, laughing.

Kaede noticed the way she avoided meeting his gaze and heard the erratic beating of her heart whenever she was near him. Sometimes, he wished he looked like everyone else. Suppressing a sigh, he said, "Hello, Mrs. McCall."

She waved her hand like she was trying to shoo away a fly. "Oh, you can call me Melissa; it's fine."

Kaede smiled at her and dipped his head.

"So," she began, at first looking at anything and everything except for him. "Did you have a chance to meet up with Mori at the Stilinskis?"

"She was not there," he answered. "Stiles said she was with Lydia Martin."

"Oh."

"Scott is not here?" Kaede asked.

"No," Melissa said, sighing with her hands on her hips, finally meeting his gaze. He noticed a faint flush appear on her face. "He's probably out with Allison somewhere. I have no idea when he'll be back."

Kaede nodded. "I think I will walk a bit to familiarize myself with the town."

"Okay," Melissa said, nodding. "Dinner will be ready in a few hours if you want some."

"Thank you."

Melissa smiled at him, and went back into the kitchen. Kaede went up to his room to change into his Night Flower uniform. It would be dark soon, and the uniform would make it harder for others to see him, even if he wasn't hidden within himself. 

The Yoshida family specialized in poisons, and regardless of what he was wearing or where he was going, he always had a dozen or so different poisons on his person that he could to deploy for various situations. Some were liquid, others powdered, one was a needle hidden away in a patch of fake skin, all of them potent and many of them lethal. But in addition to the poisons, whenever he went out in his uniform, he always brought his katana, a long, slightly curved single-edge blade that he kept strapped to his back, and he was more than proficient in its use. He was not hunting tonight, but a Night Flower was never unprepared.

Kaede stared out the window. The sun had set, but it was still light out. No matter, he thought. By the time he got back to the Stilinski residence, it would be dark enough, and no one other than another Night Flower under the influence of "Essence of the Night" would be able to see him anyway. He took a few deep, slow breaths and could almost feel himself withdrawing from the world. When he was calm and centered, he opened the window and leapt out into the dusk.

The trip back to the Stilinskis was uneventful; even his mind was mostly silent. He had no agenda, really, no idea why he was going back there. He just had this strange need to try and find out what Stiles was up to, and if Derek was there, to hear what they might be talking about. The thought of what they might be _doing_ also crossed his mind, but he was not worried about that. There was very little that they could do that he might find embarrassing, and besides, they would never know he was there. If he was being honest with himself, he would have to admit he wouldn't mind watching anyway.

He settled into the branches of a sycamore across the street from Stiles' house, which gave him a clear view of Stiles' window. There were sounds coming at him from every direction: cars in the distance, animals going about their business, the sounds of voices and television sets from the houses all around him. But, he was a Night Flower, and it took but a moment for him to pick out the sounds coming from Stiles' room and tune out everything else.

"Oh, yeah?" he heard Stiles saying. "So what else do you like about me?"

"I like the way you look at me when you think I don't know you're looking at me," he heard Derek answer. He could hear the sounds of them kissing.

"Hmm," Stiles sighed. "And, what kind of look is that, exactly?"

"Like you can't believe how lucky you are a guy like me would want to be with you," Derek answered playfully.

"Ha!" Stiles burst out, laughing. "We're a little full of ourselves tonight, aren't we?"

Kaede suddenly sensed a presence near him, and turned to see that Mori had settled on the branch next to him. Releasing the part of himself that he was holding at his center, he became visible again and nodded at her.

"Is that Derek Hale giggling?" she asked, shocked.

"Hello, Mori," Kaede said. "You sound surprised."

"Derek Hale does not giggle," she replied. "This Stiles boy has him wrapped around his little finger."

Kaede turned back towards the window, smiling. "Yes he does."

Mori heard the slight putter to Kaede's heartbeat.

"It is too bad he did not turn out to be a Night Flower as well," she said. "He certainly has the gifts for it." She paused and turned to Kaede. "Is that why you are out here?"

Kaede shrugged dismissively. "I thought it would be prudent to learn more about Stiles and this Alpha of his before I begin his training tomorrow." He tilted his head and seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. "He is an intriguing creature," he said, carefully.

Mori was pretty sure she knew what he meant, but decided to ask anyway. "In what way?"

Furrowing his brow, Kaede turned to her, saying, "Our work and training as Night Flowers consumes our waking hours. It consumes everything about us, who we are. I do not know if I can trust my feelings anymore." Kaede turned back to Stiles' window and squinted, though neither Stiles nor Derek were currently visible. "I must admit, I am quite taken with him. But, I must also concede the possibility that the root of my intrigue may be the fact that we are both Spirit Walkers. He is only the second Spirit Walker I have ever encountered. You have spent time with him. What are your impressions of the boy?"

"He is very clever," Mori began, "and he makes me laugh. He is expressive and loyal. And, he is in love with Derek Hale."

"He is young," Kaede countered. "And, young people are fickle."

Mori laughed softly, deciding it was best not to remind Kaede that Stiles was less than a year younger than either of them. "Be careful," she said. "I was told that Derek has decided to be there for all of your training sessions. I am sure I do not need to tell you how possessive he is."

"Yes," Kaede said, nodding. "He made that very clear when we first met."

Mori wanted to warn Kaede against the line of action he was clearly thinking of pursuing, but realized it would do little good. For some reason, she liked the idea of Stiles and Derek being together, but Kaede was right. Young people are fickle. She just hoped that whatever happened, no one would be killed in the process. In the course of human history, people had died for so much less. 

"Good night, Kaede," Mori said finally, as she jumped off the branch. "May the shadows keep you."

"May the shadows keep you," he replied, watching her leap onto the roof of the Stilinski house and slip into her bedroom window.

* * *

Kaede and Stiles sat across from each other on the floor of Stiles' bedroom. Stiles had been staring intently at Kaede's face, or the place where Kaede's face was supposed to be, for the last hour. Kaede was patiently disappearing and reappearing at five minute intervals, while Derek watched from Stiles' bed. 

To Kaede's surprise, Stiles had taken to the training rather well. The normally fast talking ball of energy seemed quite serene at the moment, his expression soft and his eyes focused, his breaths slow and measured. Derek, on the other hand, seemed to bristle every time Kaede reappeared, even though he was quite aware that Kaede hadn't actually gone anywhere.

"How is this supposed to help?" Derek blurted out in frustration after Kaede had reappeared for the seventh time. "Are you getting anything from this, Stiles?"

Stiles turned calmly to face Derek. "You're the one that wanted to be here," he said evenly. "No one said this was going to be quick or interesting to watch."

"How long is this supposed to take?" Derek asked Kaede, trying but failing to match Stiles' tone. "And, what do you get out of this, anyway?" he asked, getting angry again. "Stiles isn't even a Night Flower! Why send one of your own to train him? He can't become one of you! What's your angle?"

Kaede considered Derek for a moment. "The Clan of the Night Flowers has an alliance with your pack, does it not? I was sent here to train Stiles because of that alliance. You are correct, however, in that we do get some benefit from this. A trained Spirit Walker makes your pack a stronger ally for the Night Flowers. That is the only reason I came here. I know you can tell whether or not I am lying." Kaede shrugged. "As for the training, I have never done this before. There is no manual for this nor anyone we can turn to for help. To be honest, I am just making this up as we go along. It could be years before Stiles masters his abilities."

"Years?!" Derek asked, angrily.

"What?" Stiles jumped in, getting angry now. "You thought Kaede would come all the way here from Japan, we'd sit and have tea for a couple hours, and I would know everything there is to know about being a Spirit Walker? Look at your Betas! They _still_ can't control themselves!"

"My Betas are fine," Derek said, all the more frightening for how even his tone was.

"Oh, yeah?" Stiles pressed, all the calm centeredness gone. "What about during the full moon, huh? You still have to chain them up! It's been what? A year now since you changed them? A year!"

"It takes time to master the change," Derek said, still angry but with less of an edge.

"Well, this is going to take time, too, so deal," Stiles said, turning back to face Kaede. "Where were we?"

Derek threw himself back grumpily on Stiles' bed with his hands behind his head, resentful at the dismissal. He looked like he was trying to take a nap, but Kaede could tell he was only pretending. Perhaps if they trained long enough, Derek actually would fall asleep. Then, he might be able to sneak Stiles away to somewhere private.

"Just keep looking at my face," Kaede said. "Try to memorize it; try to remember every detail. When I disappear, remember what you saw. Use your mind to see what your eyes cannot."

Stiles took a deep breath and nodded. Kaede looked him in the eyes, and disappeared. They continued the exercise for another hour, until Stiles let out a wide mouthed yawn.

"Do you need a break?" Kaede asked.

"Yeah," he said, nodding and yawning again. "I'm starving actually. You wanna grab something to eat?"

"Yes, I think food would be good," Kaede replied. He turned his head to Derek, who was now snoring softly on Stiles' bed. "Should we wake him?"

Stiles turned to look at Derek and smirked. "Nah," he said, waving his hand at him. "Let him sleep. Serves him right for being such an ass." 

Kaede smiled and stood up, and Stiles’ jaw dropped a little. He didn't think he would ever get over the full glory that was Kaede Yoshida. Guiltily, he stood and turned to look at Derek. Part of Stiles wanted to wake him, if only to make sure nothing would happen between himself and Kaede, but he was still a little mad at how stubborn Derek was being about the whole training thing.

It was almost like Kaede could read the thoughts that were going through Stiles' mind. The small twitches of his facial muscles, the way he narrowed his eyes when he looked at Derek. When Stiles turned to him, shoulders squared and hands still, he knew Stiles had made a decision.

"I'll drive," Stiles said, definitively. "There's an awesome hamburger place downtown. You like hamburgers?"

"Sure." 

"Awesome."

Stiles led him down the stairs and out the door to Stiles' car. As Stiles drove, he noticed Kaede had a phone in his hands.

"What are you doing?" Stiles asked.

"I am sending a text to Mori," Kaede replied, looking up from the tiny screen. "I thought we could all have dinner together. Discuss your training."

"Oh," Stiles replied, looking slightly deflated.

"I don't have to, if you don't want," Kaede offered. 

Stiles shook his head. "No, no! It's fine. It would be good to hear how Lydia's training is going," he said, smiling at Kaede a little too brightly.

Kaede nodded carefully. The next time he had a chance to be alone with Stiles, he was definitely going to take it.

When they got to the restaurant, Kaede was surprised at how large the menu was. Stiles laughed when he saw how big Kaede's eyes had gotten.

"Don't worry," Stiles said, clapping Kaede on the back. "There's really only one thing to get here, and it's the pastrami burger. Everything on the menu is good," he said, waving at the wall-spanning text before them. "But, the pastrami burger is legendary. People come from out of town just to try it."

Stiles stepped up to the counter with Kaede standing next to him.

"How can I help you?" the woman at the cash register asked cheerily.

"I'd like to order two pastrami burgers, two drinks, and an order of curly fries," Stiles answered.

The cashier smiled and nodded as she punched in Stiles' order, but her eyes kept drifting to Kaede, almost of their own accord. Stiles knew he shouldn't feel jealous about that, but for some reason, he did. 

"Is that for here, or to go?" the cashier asked. 

"For here," Stiles answered

"Okay, that's $19.57," she said.

Stiles saw Kaede reaching for his wallet, but Stiles waved him off. "No, no, don't worry about it. You're spending all of this time training me, the least I can do is buy you dinner."

Kaede dipped his head. "Thank you, Stiles."

The cashier handed Stiles back his change and a plastic tent card with the number 19 to put on their table, and they went to find an empty booth. Lydia and Mori entered the restaurant just as they were sitting down. They watched as Lydia scanned the restaurant with her eyes, eventually finding them and waving as she walked towards their booth. Stiles smiled and gave a small wave back. Her eyes lingered on Kaede as she approached, sizing him up.

She held out her hand for him when she got to the table, saying, "You must be Kaede. I'm Lydia. Nice to meet you."

"It is nice to meet you, too," Kaede replied, gently shaking her hand and flashing a smile.

Lydia smiled back and blushed a little, then tilted her head to the side to speak to Stiles. "This booth is too small. I told Scott and Allison to meet us here."

"Okay…" Stiles said, getting out of the booth. 

He led Kaede to a booth in the corner that would accommodate their party of six, as Lydia walked back to the counter to order food with Mori.

"So, that is Lydia Martin," Kaede said, squinting at her. "Yes," he said, nodding slowly, "she is most definitely a Night Flower."

"How can you tell?" asked Stiles.

"It is her energy signature," Kaede said. "It is the same for all Night Flowers."

"You can see it?" Stiles asked, surprised. "Did you use 'Essence of the Night?'"

Kaede shook his head and turned back to Stiles. "When you awaken your sight, you won't need to use any of our powders to see these things. That is our gift as Spirit Walkers, to see the unseen."

"Yeah, Mori said something like that," Stiles replied. "But, she said we could do other stuff, too."

Kaede leaned back. "It is true. In time, you may be able to do more. But, the ability to see, that is the easiest to teach, and perhaps the most important. If I can train you to do at least that, then I will have done my job here."

Stiles nodded at Mori and Lydia as they sat down in the booth with them.

"Oh, look!" Lydia exclaimed, waving. "There's Scott and Allison."

Allison saw them and smiled brightly, waving back before walking up to the counter with Scott.

"So, why are supernatural creatures drawn to us?" Stiles asked softly, leaning forward conspiratorially, as if they were plotting a nefarious scheme to take over the world.

Kaede looked at Mori and grimaced slightly. 

"We can only guess," Mori said with a small shrug. "But, I think it has to do with the amount of mystical energy Spirit Walkers give off. It is almost like you have too much of it; you do not use it fast enough so it just spills out of you. When I used 'Dance of a Thousand Spirits,' I could not even look you directly in the eye; it was so bright. We must be attracted to it in some way, even if we are not aware of it."

"You know," Lydia said, tapping her chin with her index finger, "since this is an energy thing, this could explain your hyperactivity, Stiles."

"How?" Stiles asked.

"Well, it's like Mori said," Lydia replied, gesturing at Mori, "you have too much energy and you have to burn it off somehow. Maybe if you start using your abilities, you won't have to take Adderall all the time."

"That would be cool," Stiles said, nodding. "So, how's _your_ training going?"

Lydia glanced at Mori. "So far it's just a lot of meditation stuff. She showed me all of the powders she brought, and I got to smell them and learn what they're used for. I've already memorized all of them, but she said there's hundreds more for me to learn about. Mori said the Koga family specialized in using chi, so we're going to start working on that tomorrow." Lydia gave them all a small smile. "I don't know why, but it feels important that I continue the tradition."

"Stiles might benefit from the practice as well," Kaede added. "Chi is simply another form of mystical energy, and since Stiles has so much of it, maybe we can teach him to channel it in some way."

"If it works for him, it would work for you, too," Mori commented.

"Yes, it would," Kaede said, nodding. "I have never tried to focus my abilities in that way, before. This will be an interesting experiment."

"Hey guys!" said Allison enthusiastically, as she approached the table. "What's up?"

"Just taking a break from training," Stiles answered. "Kaede and I got hungry."

"Where's Derek?" asked Scott. Kaede noticed his nostrils flare, as he tried to scent out the Alpha.

Stiles threw Kaede a guilty look.

"He was tired, so we let him sleep," Kaede replied.

"Okay…" Scott said, looking confused as he and Allison scooted into the booth.

"So, are you two learning anything?" asked Allison, looking at Stiles and Lydia.

"Yeah," Lydia said, smiling meekly. "I mean, we haven't been doing it long, but I think Mori's a really good teacher."

"Well, I just started today," Stiles said. "I'm not sure how far we've gotten other than pissing Derek off," he finished with a laugh. "But, we're gonna do this chi thing tomorrow." He turned to Mori. "What exactly are we going to be doing anyway?"

"Have you ever seen anyone practicing Tai Chi?" she asked.

"It's what those old people do in the park, right?" Lydia asked. "Like, when they're doing karate in slow motion?"

"Yes," Mori replied, nodding. "That is essentially what we will be teaching you, except our focus will be more on the mystical, rather than the physical."

"Well, where are we gonna do it?" asked Stiles. "We can't do it at my house; my dad would totally freak. He's already suspicious of everything I do, I don't need to give him something else to worry about."

"Yeah," agreed Lydia, "we can't do it at my house either."

"You could do it at my house," Scott offered. "My mom already knows about all of us."

Kaede nodded. "We could use the backyard. There is plenty of room back there."

One of the restaurant workers arrived with Stiles and Kaede's food, taking away their tent card. Stiles eyes grew wide at the pastrami burgers. He set one in front of Kaede, saying, "Welcome to America, my friend!"

"This is supposed to be for one person?" Kaede asked, a twinkle of laughter and disbelief in his eyes.

"Oh, yes!" Stiles said, lifting the burger to his mouth. He paused before biting into it. "You all don't mind, do you?"

He smiled at the chorus of, "No," "Nope," "Go ahead," and gestures for him to continue. 

Biting into the burger, he smiled and sighed as sauce and meat juices dribbled down his chin. Kaede tried to suppress the joy he felt at watching Stiles savoring his food, and bit into his own burger, surprised at how well the cured meat went with the grilled hamburger. Everyone else got their food while Stiles and Kaede ate, and they talked and laughed between bites of pastrami burger and curly fries.

Waving goodbye to everyone after they finished their food, Stiles and Kaede left the restaurant and went back to the Stilinski house. When they got to Stiles' room, they found Derek, still asleep and snoring even louder than when they had left. Kaede saw Stiles face soften as he looked at Derek, all of the anger of their previous encounter melting away.

"Uh, look, it's been a pretty long day, and I'm kind of beat," Stiles said pulling off his shoes. "How about we meet at Scott's house tomorrow?"

Kaede smiled. "Sure."

"Could you close the door behind you?" Stiles asked, as he climbed into bed with Derek.

Kaede dipped his head, and moved to leave Stiles' room. He paused at the door and watched as Stiles pulled a blanket up over himself and Derek and tucked his body next to the sleeping werewolf. Stiles draped his arm over Derek and then laid his head into the crook of Derek's neck. One of the two let out a soft sigh, Kaede honestly didn't know which. He lowered his eyes to the ground, and closed the door.

* * *

Stiles, Lydia and Kaede were standing in a row, facing Mori in Scott's backyard. Scott and Allison were sitting on a low brick wall, whispering and giggling to each other, occasionally kissing. Derek was sitting next to Scott, watching carefully as Mori lead her trainees through some basic moves, telling them to imagine they were manipulating a ball of energy with their hands. She had explained that she was not any kind of chi expert, but as her knowledge surpassed that of Kaede's, she ended up being the default teacher. The Clan of the Night Flowers was already stretching their resources by allowing two of their members to be in Beacon Hills at the same time, so she was reluctant to ask for more help.

Derek watched as Stiles moved through the forms. If anyone were to have told him before that Stiles was graceful, he would have laughed, but Stiles had taken to the practice like he was born to it. He couldn't remember a time when he had ever seen Stiles so serene. Well, besides when he was doing that strange exercise with Kaede in his room yesterday, Derek thought bitterly.

Suddenly, Stiles yelped, and Derek was immediately at his side.

"What happened?" Derek asked.

"Did you see that?!" Stiles asked excitedly, as the others gathered around him. He was shaking his hands like he had just touched something hot.

"What was it?" asked Mori.

"I don't know," Stiles replied, eyes wide, but still smiling. "It was the chi, I think. There was a flash of light, and then I could see it, the ball of chi, I guess. Just for a second, and then it was gone. It kind of shocked me though," he said, shaking his hands some more.

"Is everything okay out here?" Melissa called out from the back door.

"Yeah, Mom!" Scott called back. "We're fine."

Melissa looked dubious, but nodded. "Okay. Dinner's gonna be ready in twenty," she said, stepping back inside.

"I saw the flash of light, too," said Kaede. "But, I do not know if anyone else would have been able to see it without aid."

"He created a ball of chi?" Mori asked, looking at Kaede. "But, that is just supposed to be a metaphor. How is that possible?"

"He has never used his power before," Kaede mused. "Given the rate at which he is releasing his mystical energies, he must have an incredible amount held in reserve. Perhaps it just needed somewhere to go." Kaede looked at Stiles and smiled. "It is no wonder he is surrounded by werewolves and Night Flowers."

Mori nodded. "Why don't we try something else for a bit before we go eat?" She gestured at the tiki torches that Lydia had brought from her home. "Each of you needs to set up one of these in front of you and then light it."

"Oho!" Scott said excitedly, rubbing his hands together. "Are we having a party?"

"No," Mori deadpanned. "We are continuing with our training."

"Scott!" Melissa called out from the house. "You need to get in here and set the table!"

"Coming!" he yelled back, jogging towards the back door with Allison close behind.

"Okay," began Stiles, as he jabbed the pointy end of the tiki torch into the ground, "what are we doing with these things?"

"You are going to be attempting to put out the flame with your chi," Mori replied.

"Okay," Stiles said, a grim look of determination settling on his face.

Derek had moved to the back door and was watching them while leaning against the doorframe. He heard Melissa approaching but didn't turn towards her. She crossed her arms and looked out into the yard, leaning against the other side of the doorframe and shaking her head.

She turned to look at Derek. "I can't believe you kids had all of this stuff going on right under my nose and I had no clue."

Derek looked down. "I'm sorry about that," he said. "It was never my intention for Scott to be involved in any of this." 

He turned his head to look at her and she contemplated his face for a while. She could tell he was being sincere. Melissa nodded and turned back towards the others in the yard.

"And now, all of this?" she asked, gesturing at them as they directed punches at the tiki torch flames. "What is this?"

"Scott didn't tell you?" Derek asked.

Melissa scoffed. "You think Scott tells me anything? He just said you all needed to use the backyard. I thought you were gonna have party. What are they doing?" she asked, shaking her head in confusion.

"Training," Derek answered.

"Training?" Melissa asked. "Training for what?"

"Mori and Kaede, the exchange students, they actually belong to a ninja clan," Derek said.

Melissa snorted, and brought her hand up to cover her smile. "Really?"

Derek laughed a little and nodded. "Yeah."

Melissa took a breath and lowered her hand, her face serious again. "So, what are they doing with Lydia and Stiles? Are they training to become ninjas now?"

Derek could tell she was trying not to laugh. "It turns out that Lydia is a descendant of one of their families."

"Really!?" Melissa said, turning back to look at Lydia with an appraising look on her face. "I never would have guessed that in a million years."

After watching them punch at the tiki torches for a while, she spoke again. "And Stiles?"

Derek shook his head and took a deep breath. "Stiles. Stiles is something completely different."

"You sound worried," Melissa said, squinting at him.

Derek grimaced, but didn’t say anything.

"Look, I know we don't really know each other that well," Melissa said, "but I know you're at the center of all of this." She turned to look at Stiles. "And, it doesn't take a genius to figure out how Stiles feels about you. I want to like you Derek, and I think I do, so I want you to know that if you ever need someone to talk to, you can talk to me. But, Stiles is like a son to me, and if you hurt him…"

She gave him a look that only a mother could give, a look that reminded him so much of his own mother. And, Derek was cowed. He lowered his eyes, nodding.

"I'm glad we understand each other," she said, patting him on the shoulder. "Dinner!" she shouted at the four in the yard before heading back inside.

After dinner, Scott and Allison went to see a movie, and Melissa left for work, leaving Derek alone to watch as the others practiced with the torches. Mori had shown them how to strike at the flame with a closed fist, and when she did it, it looked like the breeze she created from the movement of her hand put out the flame. But even Derek, standing at a distance, was able to sense the shift of energy, the mysterious extension of power that had snuffed it out.

About an hour into their practice, Kaede's flame went out when he punched at it. He looked vaguely stunned, but Stiles punched his fist into the air.

"You did it!" Stiles yelled excitedly, with one hand on Kaede's chest, and the other pounding him on the back. 

Derek tried not to bristle at that. 

"Awesome, dude! You totally did it! I felt it happen! Here," Stiles said igniting Kaede's torch with a barbeque lighter. "Try it again."

Stiles stepped back, and they all watched as Kaede stood facing the torch, focusing on the flame. He took a deep breath, drew back his hand and struck. The flame flickered a little, but did not go out. Kaede huffed, and struck again, but the flame continued to burn. He hung his head, and Stiles looked crestfallen.

"It is all right," Mori said. "You all did good work today. You should not expect so much of yourselves after only the first day. We will meet back here tomorrow night. I think you have all had enough training for today."

As if someone had flicked a light switch, Stiles was happy again and came bouncing up to Derek like an overly enthusiastic puppy. "Did you see?" he asked. "Did you see what he did?"

Derek smiled at him indulgently. "Yes, I saw. Aren't you tired? You've been training all night."

"No." Stiles leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"Are you ready to go home?" Derek asked, smiling at how happy Stiles seemed.

Stiles kissed him again. "Yes."

Derek smirked and grabbed Stiles' hand.

"Are you coming, Mori?" Stiles asked.

"I am going to stay with Lydia tonight," she answered.

"Okay," Stiles said, waving back to them. "Good night!"

"Good night, Stiles," replied Lydia, as Mori and Kaede dipped their heads.

Derek raised his hand goodbye, and linked arms with Stiles. It only bothered him a little that Stiles smelled like Kaede.

* * *

Stiles and Kaede were sitting on the floor of Stiles room again while Derek looked on from the bed. Stiles was watching the pale tendrils of periwinkle light coming off of Kaede, like mist coming off of a lake in the morning. Kaede had dosed Stiles with "Essence of the Night" prior to the exercise. As the effects of the powder wore off, Stiles was supposed to try to maintain the ability to see the mystical energy coming off of Kaede. As Stiles watched, he became mesmerized by the light, hints of patterns beginning to emerge only to evaporate again. He didn't notice the way Kaede's eyes slowly traced over his lips, or slight hitch to Kaede's breath whenever their eyes would meet.

But, Derek noticed, so Derek watched. He had brought a book this time, but he found himself watching Stiles and Kaede over the top of it just as much as he was reading. As the minutes ticked by, Stiles could feel the effects of the powder wearing off. He tried to concentrate harder, but eventually, the tendrils of light disappeared. He squinted his eyes, trying to see them again, but it was no use. All he could see was Kaede, and the smirk on his strikingly handsome face. Without the light to distract him, Stiles was confronted once again with how beautiful Kaede was, and blushed before turning away.

Derek cocked his head to the side at the sound of Stiles thumping heartbeat. 

"I think the powder wore off," Stiles said. "I can't see the light anymore."

Kaede pulled out the vial of "Essence of the Night." "Do you want to try again?" he asked, holding the vial up to Stiles.

Stiles nodded determinedly and uncorked the vial. He swiped it under his nose, barely getting any of the scent, before shoving the cork back in. Too large of a dose would mean having to wait for a longer period of time before its effects wore off, and he was trying to see Kaede's energy signature unaided. He handed the vial back to Kaede, and almost immediately, he was able to see the tendrils of light again.

Derek sighed. As much as he didn't trust Kaede, he trusted Stiles, and he didn’t know how much more he could take of watching the two young men staring at each other while they sat on the floor.

"I'm gonna check on the others," he said abruptly, tossing the book on the nightstand. 

Stiles turned to look at him. "Huh?"

"Isaac, Erica and Boyd," Derek said, standing up. "I'm gonna see what they're up to."

Stiles furrowed his brow. "Okay."

"You'll be over at Scott's later, right?" he asked, looking at Kaede.

Kaede nodded.

"I'll meet you there," Derek said, stepping through Stiles' open window. 

Stiles looked at the window for a while, half expecting Derek to come back. He turned to Kaede, looking concerned. "That was weird."

Kaede smiled and nodded. "I finally have you to myself, Stiles Stilinski."

"Just because Derek's gone doesn't mean you get to try anything," Stiles replied. His tone was serious, but Kaede could tell he was trying to hide a smirk. And if that wasn't enough, is heart was racing, and Kaede knew that Stiles wasn't afraid of him.

Kaede leaned forward until he was on all fours. He pulled himself towards Stiles until their faces were only inches apart.

"Who said I was going to try anything?" he asked.

Stiles eyes went wide. "I can't," Stiles breathed out harshly. It wasn't much of a protest.

Kaede leaned forward the last few inches, but Stiles jerked back before their lips could touch. He rolled over and stood up, eyes fixed on Kaede's predatory gaze as Kaede rose up to join him.

Stiles shook his head sadly. "Look Kaede, I just can't, okay? Derek is really important to me, and I can't do that to him. God knows, you're gorgeous, and you're probably used to people just throwing themselves at you, and if I wasn't with Derek, I would probably be one of them. But, I don't get it. You can have pretty much whoever you want. Why me?"

Kaede's face sobered. "We are Spirit Walkers, Stiles," he said, insistent. "Can you not feel it, the way we are pulled toward each other? I have never met anyone like you before. The power that comes off of you, a man could get drunk off it. I know you can feel it from me as well."

Stiles looked confused for a moment, then became serious. "Even if I did, that doesn't change anything. I'm in love with Derek, and I know he loves me back. I would be an idiot to throw that away. This thing between us? It's not real. It's just magic mumbo jumbo and crazy mystical energy stuff." Stiles sighed sadly. "I think Derek was right. We shouldn't be training by ourselves."

"Are you asking me to leave?"

Stiles bit his lip, then nodded.

"I am sorry if I have behaved badly," Kaede said. "Please excuse me." 

He bowed formally and left through Stiles' window.


	4. Summer Lake Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simply put, Derek was stunning, slabs of muscle moving like wild animals trapped under his smooth skin, channeling the water between deep grooves every time Stiles splashed at him. And Stiles, somehow still innocent of his allure, was breathtaking, his long, lean muscles gliding beneath creamy skin, an assortment of tiny moles, and a soft trail of fuzz leading down from his navel that was impossible to miss. Both of them seemed to have degenerated into elementary school levels of maturity, which was at once amusing and annoying for everyone to watch. 
> 
> At one point, Derek grabbed Stiles and tossed him into the air, Stiles eliciting a yell filled with very real fear until Derek caught him, laughing under the harmless barrage of Stiles' angry fists. The two of them together, glistening wet, young and fit and filled with joy; it was a glorious sight to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This seems to keep happening, where I start to write a chapter, and then realize it's getting too long and I need to split it into two. Oh well, of all the things that could be taking over my life, at least it's somewhat constructive.

Stiles, Lydia and Kaede were standing in a line, punching at their tiki torches. They had been training for the past month, and now each of them could reliably extinguish their flames with a single strike. Occasionally, they could even light it again with the next punch. Stiles grunted with frustration after about an hour of trying to re-light his torch, giving up and reaching for the barbeque lighter on the ground.

Derek smiled at him from across the yard. Stiles had made incredible progress, in some ways even faster than the other two because of his built up reserves of energy that he had never used before. Stiles was thrilled that he was gaining abilities that he could use to help the pack, but the learning process was slow. He didn't have the strength, speed or agility that Kaede or Lydia had. His ability was channeling energy, which sometimes took more focus than he was willing to give. 

Mori's foot came down on the lighter before Stiles could lift it up.

"No, Stiles," she said. "Use your chi."

Stiles groaned. "Come on, Mori!" he whined. "I just can't do it right now. Just let me punch it out; that's the fun part!"

"You need to push yourself," Mori said, shaking her head. "That is the only way you are going to learn."

"Fine," Stiles said, annoyed. He stared at the tiki torch for a second and then shook his head like a wet dog before continuing with the exercise. 

As he punched in rhythm with Lydia and Kaede, his torch remaining unlit as theirs would light, extinguish and light again, Mori came to sit down next to Derek. The two had developed a truce as Derek had eventually come to accept the fact that Mori was not a danger to his pack, nor did she have any romantic interest in Stiles. Worrying about Kaede's intentions was almost more than he could handle in that regard, anyway.

"He is too hard on himself," Mori commented.

Derek nodded slowly, and grimaced.

"I think your presence makes him nervous sometimes," Mori continued. "I think he feels like he needs to prove something to you."

"He doesn't need to prove anything to me," Derek replied, sounding vaguely offended.

"Nothing?" Mori pressed. "Sometimes I think his mind is more on you than on the training."

Derek turned to look at her, waiting for her to continue.

"I know how you feel about Kaede," Mori said.

"Did he say something to you?" Derek asked, his eyebrow coming together.

"No," Mori said, looking down and shaking her head. "Neither of them said anything. I can tell by the way you look at them, and the way they look at you. You forget, being a Night Flower is mostly about making observations." 

Mori sighed and placed a hand on Derek's arm. Derek looked at her hand curiously.

"If it makes you feel any better," Mori continued, "I think Kaede has developed feelings for Lydia."

Derek searched her eyes. "Really?"

Mori smiled and nodded. Derek let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

"You need to trust him, Derek," Mori said. "Do you trust him?"

Derek squinted at the ground. "I want to."

"Show him, then," Mori pressed.

Derek took a few deep breaths, and then stood up. He walked over to where the three were training, and stood behind Stiles. Stiles stopped punching and turned to face him.

"Hey, babe," Stiles said, smiling at him. "What's up?"

Derek reached out an arm and pulled Stiles close, leaning a little so that his mouth was next to Stiles' ear. He knew it was a wasted effort, as everyone in the yard would be able to hear every single word he spoke, but it at least gave the semblance of privacy.

"I'm gonna go grab something for us eat," he said softly. "What do you want me to bring back?"

"Um," Stiles said, looking around at the others while he thought. "I could go for some pizza."

He pulled away from Stiles' ear, and addressed the others. "Is pizza okay with everybody?"

Lydia and Mori nodded. Kaede held his gaze for a moment. He gave Derek the kind of smile a person forfeiting a competition would give, then dipped his head slightly. Derek dipped his head back in acknowledgement, then leaned forward and kissed Stiles, his eyes never leaving Kaede's face. Kaede smiled, more to himself than anyone else, though the smile seemed to speak with genuine amusement. He turned back to his torch and began punching at it again.

Derek closed in eyes for a second, pressing his lips against Stiles like it was the only thing that would save him. He felt Stiles melting beneath him, and he pulled back, chuckling softly to himself as he made sure Stiles wouldn't fall over if he let him go.

"All right," Derek said, once he was sure Stiles was steady on his feet. "I'll be back in bit."

"Oh, Derek!" Lydia said suddenly. "Before you go, I have an announcement." She gave them all a brilliant smile. "I thought since we've all been training so hard this summer, that we needed to have a little break. You know, actually have a summer vacation. So, I was talking to my dad and he agreed to let us all use our cabin at Crystal Lake!"

"Really?!" Stiles exclaimed, grabbing onto Derek again. "That is so awesome! I've heard stories about that cabin!" He turned to Derek excitedly, and Derek's eyebrows went up in amusement. "That's the place where Suzie Laughlin lost her…"

"Stiles!" Lydia snapped, cutting him off. "That is so not the point," she said rolling her eyes, angrily. "The point is, I want us all to go there next week so we can all relax and have a little fun." She looked at Derek. "You invite Isaac, Erica and Boyd, I'll make sure Scott and Allison know."

"What about Danny?" Stiles asked.

"What _about_ Danny?" Lydia asked back.

"We can't just all go off on a trip to the lake and leave Danny behind!" Stiles said, throwing his arms wide. 

"Fine, I'll invite Danny," Lydia replied with a sigh. "That might make things a little complicated, though," she mused. "He doesn't know about any of us."

"Well, maybe it's time to let him know?" Stiles suggested. He looked around at everyone as they all made awkward non-committal noises. "He's our friend!" Stiles continued, exasperated. "He's even friends with you two, now!" he said, pointing at Mori and Kaede. "Come on, guys!" he pressed when they all refused to make eye contact with him. "It's not fair how he's always left out of everything. I know he suspects stuff, even if he's too polite to outright ask about it. He deserves to know, and he could totally help us with all of his crazy computer skills!"

Derek sighed. "We wouldn't be doing him any favors by telling him. What would your life would be like if you didn't know? You wouldn't always be in danger, you wouldn't keep getting hurt, you wouldn't have to lie to your dad all the time."

Stiles blinked a few times, looking deeply into Derek's eyes. "I wouldn't have you."

Derek breathed out, tilted his head down, and squeezed his eyes shut, like it was too painful to keep looking.

"I'd feel like everyone was keeping secrets from me," Stiles continued. "I'd wonder why everyone seems to know about stuff and why they keep showing up when things get weird. I'd feel left out."

"Well, if Jackson was still around, I'm sure Danny would already know about all of this by now," Lydia said. "But, he's not, and he would've been the logical one to tell Danny." She sighed and pursed her lips. "I'll invite him to the lake and figure out how to tell him."

They were quiet for a while, until Derek finally broke the silence, kissing Stiles on the temple, saying, "I'll be back with the pizza."

He smiled softly as he walked away, listening to the sounds of Stiles, Lydia and Kaede punching at their tiki torches. Stiles let out a whoop, and Derek turned around briefly to see that he was jumping and punching his fist in the air. His torch was lit.

* * *

Lydia pulled up in front of Danny's house, with Stiles pulling up behind her, and Derek pulling up behind him. Lydia whipped out her phone and sent Danny a quick text to let him know that she and the caravan had arrived. A few minutes later, Danny walked out the front door with his backpack and a duffel bag. Lydia popped her trunk. Danny deposited his things, and then got into the backseat when he noticed Kaede sitting on the passenger side.

"Hi, Kaede," he said, his cheeks reddening slightly. 

It was not a secret to anyone that Danny had a little crush on Kaede. Almost everyone that met him had a crush on Kaede.

Kaede smiled at the sound of Danny's heart skipping and turned to him. "Hello, Danny."

"All right," Lydia said, grinning widely as she pulled her sunglasses down over her eyes. "Let's go!"

Lydia pulled away, with Stiles and Derek following. Turning up the radio, she bobbed her head for a bit, trying to figure out what to say to Danny, and when she should say it. The lake was less than two hours away, and they had all agreed that she should tell him before they got there. He would be forced to stay and listen to the whole thing unless he wanted to jump out of a moving car. She glanced at Kaede, who nodded at her as if he could tell what she was thinking.

He turned his head towards Danny. "Have you been to this lake, Danny?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah, a couple of times with Lydia and Jackson. The cabin is really nice."

Lydia smiled into her rearview mirror. "Isn't it, though?" she said.

Danny laughed. "Yeah."

"I'm really glad you decided to come, Danny," Lydia said. "We haven’t really hung out much since…" She paused and took a breath, unable to finish what she was about to say. "So, what have you been up to?" she asked quickly.

"Oh, you know," Danny said. "Practicing for lacrosse, studying for the SATs. What about you?"

Lydia smiled and sighed. If there was ever an opening, this was it. "A little of this, a little of that. Mostly training with Kaede and Mori to become a ninja."

"What?!" Danny blurted out, laughing. "Did you say 'ninja?'"

"That's actually one of the reasons we wanted you to come," Lydia said, serious now. "We all thought that you've been in the dark too long about this. We want you to know."

Danny laughed some more. "What are you talking about? Are you serious?" He looked at Kaede. "Is she serious?"

Kaede squinted. He could make Danny believe them immediately by disappearing right in front of his eyes, but he thought it would be better to introduce him to everything slowly. Instead, he simply nodded.

Danny smiled, still thinking this was some kind of joke and that they would eventually say something like, "Gotcha! Just kidding!" But, his smile slowly faded when nothing was forthcoming. 

He blinked a few times at their silence, Lydia meeting his eyes occasionally in the rearview mirror. She began to wonder why no one had said anything to him sooner. They had all been keeping secrets for far too long.

She turned to Kaede. "I think he's ready, now."

"Ready for what?" Danny asked, cautiously.

Kaede turned his head to look Danny in the eyes. Danny's eyes widened, not knowing what to expect when Kaede took a deep breath. As Kaede slowly breathed out, Danny leaned back a little. Then, Kaede disappeared.

"Holy shit!" Danny exclaimed, scrambling backwards and flailing a little when he could go no further. "What?!" He glanced at Lydia quickly, then looked back at the now vacant passenger's seat. "Where'd he go?!" he asked, scared and yelling as he reached forward, screaming and pulling back when his hand made contact with Kaede's shoulder. He screamed again when Kaede reappeared.

"Who are you?! What are you?!" Danny had pushed himself into the corner again, trying to stay as far away from Kaede as possible.

Lydia took off her sunglasses. "Look at me, Danny," she snapped, trying to meet his gaze in the rearview mirror.

He looked at her, breathing heavily.

"Danny," Lydia continued gently. "You're gonna be okay. We're all friends here."

Scrunching up his face, and taking a few quick deep breaths, he seemed like he was about to panic, but he maintained eye contact.

"Are you listening to me?" she asked.

After a few more breaths, he jerked his head, nodding.

"Good," Lydia said, her eyes quickly darting to the road, then back to Danny. "We're telling you this because we care about you," she said, matter-of-factly. "You've been involved with this for too long, even if you didn't know what you were doing. It's safer this way. You need to know."

Danny's breathing slowly evened out. "So, can you disappear, too?" he asked eventually.

Lydia looked irritated now. "I've only been able to do it once," she answered, glaring at the road. "I'm still learning."

"Wow," Danny said, his eyes unfocused. He turned to look at the two cars following them. "So, are you all ninjas, now?" he asked. "I guess that might explain some things."

"No," Lydia said. "Only Kaede and Mori. Well, I guess you can include me, if you want. And, we're not really ninjas. We prefer the term, 'Night Flowers.' That's the clan we belong to."

Kaede smiled to himself, glad to see how far Lydia had come in accepting who she was.

"But, they all know?" Danny pressed.

"Yes," Lydia replied.

"Wait a minute," Danny said, shaking his head as his eyebrows came together. 

Kaede could practically hear the gears spinning in Danny's brain. 

"All this weird stuff started happening way before Mori showed up," Danny continued, "all the people dying and stuff, what happened to me at the club. Is all of that related to this?"

Lydia bit her bottom lip and breathed out slowly through her nose. "Yes and no," she said finally. "It turns out Beacon Hills is kind of overrun with werewolves," she said, laughing half-heartedly.

"Werewolves?" Danny asked, looking very skeptical.

"Yeah, those people in the cars behind us?" Lydia said, jerking her thumb back at them. "Most of them are werewolves."

Danny turned around slowly to look out the back window. Stiles saw him and waved happily. Danny half-smiled and raised his hand back.

"Which ones, exactly?" he asked.

"Scott, Isaac, Erica and Boyd," Lydia said. "And, Derek."

Danny whipped back around. "Derek? Who's Derek?"

"Derek Hale," Lydia replied. "Stiles' boyfriend."

"Stiles' what?!" Danny exclaimed, his eyebrows shooting up.

"Oh yeah, ha ha," Lydia said, shrugging a little. "Stiles has a boyfriend now, and he's Derek Hale."

"You mean, wanted for murder, family died in a fire, way, way older than us, Derek Hale?" Danny asked without taking a breath.

"He was exonerated!" Lydia protested. "And, yes."

Danny turned back around to look at Stiles. Stiles saw him, smiled and gave him a bro nod. Danny smiled back at him weakly.

"Is there anything else I should know?" Danny mumbled.

Lydia wasn't able make herself invisible at will yet, but since learning she was a Night Flower, her hearing had improved ten-fold, so she heard him perfectly.

"Well," she began, "you should probably know that Allison comes from a family of werewolf hunters, which means that _she_ is technically a werewolf hunter, but don’t worry, because she's on our side. And, it turns out that Stiles is a Spirit Walker, which is actually why Kaede showed up. To train him."

"Wait," Danny said, looking confused. "I thought you said Kaede was a…um…Night Flower?"

"He's both," Lydia said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Danny dropped his head into his hands. "And, what is a Spirit Walker?" he mumbled into his palms.

"Uh," Lydia said, hesitating. "I think you should take this one?" she said to Kaede.

"A Spirit Walker is a person who can see into the mystical realm," he said. "We can identify who is supernatural, and who is not."

Danny was quiet for a while. He hadn't lifted his head from his hands yet.

"Are you okay, Danny?" Lydia asked, squinting at him in concern.

"What about Jackson?" Danny asked through his hands.

Lydia nodded slowly. "Jackson is a werewolf," she said, deciding that was all Danny needed to know about Jackson, right now.

"Is that why he left?"

"We don't know," Lydia answered, her eyes tight. "Nobody knows."

Danny was quiet again. He eventually lifted his head and grimaced out the window.

"How you doin', Danny?" Lydia asked.

Danny squinted and blinked a few times. "Night Flowers," he began, counting off on his fingers. "Werewolves, werewolf hunters," he said, raising his eyebrows, "and Spirit Walkers. Is that it? Is there anything else?"

Lydia glanced at Kaede.

"There is more," Kaede said. "But, that is all you need to know, for now."

Danny nodded slowly. "And, you organized this trip just so you could tell me?"

Lydia laughed, feeling the tension leaving the car. "Don't be ridiculous! I planned this trip so we could have a little fun! We just thought that since we were all going, you should come too, and we kind of needed to tell you so we wouldn't have to hide everything from you the whole time."

"Well, thanks, I guess," he said, looking down at his hands as he twiddled his thumbs. A smile slowly crept its way onto his face, and he eventually nodded. "You know, I have been wondering about things for a while. It's kind of cool, actually," he said, shrugging a shoulder. "I guess this means my life is gonna get a little more interesting?"

Lydia laughed and shook her head. "Danny, you have no idea!"

* * *

Stiles pulled up in front of the cabin next to Lydia's car. The cabin was larger than Mori thought it would be, really a full-sized house, with artificially rustic touches to give it some charm. Lydia had her trunk open by the time Stiles threw his jeep into park, and she was handing things to Danny and Kaede to carry inside by the time he jumped out of the blue monstrosity. Slamming the door shut and throwing his arms wide, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the mountain air. 

"That's what I'm talking about!" he exclaimed, beaming a wide smile at Mori, Scott and Allison as they made their way out of the jeep, not noticing the curious looks that Danny was throwing their way. 

Derek pulled his Camero up next to the jeep, with Isaac, Erica and Boyd in tow. Stiles ran around the jeep to Derek's door like an excited puppy, waiting for him to open it. When he did, Stiles reached in and pulled him out.

"Come on, come on, come on!" he said, yanking at Derek's arm. "Let's go look at the water!"

"We still need to bring all our stuff inside," Derek protested.

"We can come back!" Stiles argued, as he continued to pull. "Come on!"

Derek smiled and relented, allowing Stiles to drag him to the lake. Scott and Allison ran after them, leaving the others to follow at a more leisurely pace.

Danny and Kaede put the things they were carrying down on the bench by the cabin so they could follow everyone, Kaede jogging a little to catch up with Lydia. When he gave her a shy smile, she smiled politely back. Tentatively reaching for her hand, he sidled a bit closer. He thought he saw her glance down at the offered hand, but acting like she didn't see it, she kept her eyes focused on the path ahead of them. Frowning a little, he let his hand drop back down to his side.

"Isn't it gorgeous out here?" Lydia asked, smiling brightly at him.

He nodded.

When they got to the shore, they found the two couples staring out over the water. Stiles and Derek were standing together, Stiles leaning back against Derek's chest, and Derek's arms wrapped around Stiles' torso, their hands intertwined at the hollow of Stiles' throat, and Derek's chin resting on Stiles' shoulder. Scott and Allison were sitting next to each other on a log, their hands clasped together and their heads touching.

The lake was a deep blue mirror, reflecting the dark green cedars and Douglas firs growing on its shores. Everything was so still, the only movement a pair of ducks flying in the distance. Mori tilted her chin up, slowly inhaling the beautifully fresh air, heavy with the scent of pine needles on the ground. It reminded her of the forests back home.

"Thank you for bringing us here," she said, smiling nostalgically as she turned to Lydia.

Lydia smiled back at her and nodded. Mori turned back to look at the water, noting the shoreline. There was a nice beach, not the soft pale sand one might expect to find at the ocean, more like tiny gray and brown stones, but it was wide, with enough room for a large gathering around the fire pit, and space to spread out a blanket for a picnic if they wanted. There was also a flat grassy area that looked big enough for a game of volleyball and plenty of trees nearby if they wanted shade.

After a while, Mori leaned towards Lydia, saying, "I'm going to go back and unload the cars."

"I'll come with you!" Lydia replied cheerily. "We should get unpacked so we can start getting dinner ready," she said to the others. "You four can collect wood for the fire tonight," she instructed the two couples. "Just put it by the fire pit."

Lydia headed back to the cabin, practically skipping. Mori ran after her and the others followed. After they all brought everything inside, Lydia claimed one of the four bedrooms for herself.

"I can share one of the rooms with Mori, if that's all right with you," she said, looking at Mori. Mori quickly nodded, and Lydia continued, "I think we should let Derek and Stiles have a room, and Scott and Allison, too. None of us need to see what they get up to at night." She tossed her hair and huffed with a smile, as if the matter were settled. "So, that leaves one room, and the two couches that fold out into beds in the living room. I'll be in the kitchen, getting dinner started while you all figure it out." She beamed at them and left the room.

"I don't mind sleeping on a couch," Isaac offered.

"Me either," added Erica.

"Don't the three of you normally all sleep together in the same bed?" asked Mori.

Boyd glanced at the other two, then looked at Mori and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. That's what we normally do," he said with a nod.

"You do?" asked Danny, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

"Why, you wanna join us?" Isaac asked with a wicked smile, his eyebrows bobbing up and down.

Danny blushed and laughed softly under his breath. "No, no, I think I'll pass. Look, if the three of you usually all sleep together, why don't you all take the room, and Kaede and I can sleep on the couches? Is that okay?" he asked, addressing Kaede.

"That is fine with me," Kaede replied.

The Betas all looked at each other and nodded ascent. 

"All right, werewolves in the bedroom, pretty boys on the couch," Erica said, giving them a suggestive look as she went to grab her bag and bring it into the bedroom.

Danny blushed again and looked at Kaede. "Which one do you want?" Danny asked, glancing at the two couches.

"It does not matter to me," Kaede answered.

Danny nodded and opened up his bag, which was in front of him on one of the said couches. As he and Kaede were unpacking, the door opened and Scott and Allison walked in with their arms around each other's waists. Derek and Stiles were right behind.

"Hey guys!" Scott said, with a big grin on his face. "We collected enough firewood to last the whole night, if we want!"

"Oh, hey," Danny said, nodding. "Lydia said you and Allison should take one of the rooms, and Derek and Stiles should take the other one."

"Oh, okay," Scott said, looking around for his stuff. He spotted his bag and grabbed it along with Allison's. "Which way?" he asked.

"Just down there," Danny said, gesturing at the hallway.

Allison followed Scott, while Derek and Stiles cast about for their bags. Danny eyed them cautiously, especially Derek. His eyes widened in sudden recognition, and his hand darted out, grabbing Stiles arm and pulling him close.

"Whoa!" Stiles yelped involuntarily, trying not to lose his balance. He looked into Danny's eyes questioningly.

Danny leaned in to Stiles' ear. "Miguel?" he whispered, one eyebrow raised.

Stiles quickly turned to look at Derek, who was doing his best to pretend he wasn't listening, but both Danny and Stiles saw the smirk he was giving to his open bag. Blushing, Stiles turned back to Danny, and shrugged. Danny smiled and shook his head, releasing Stiles, who beamed at him before following Derek into one of the bedrooms.

After getting all of their stuff squared away, Stiles and Derek joined Isaac, Danny and Lydia in the kitchen. They threw some sandwiches together, along with some fruit and the fixin's for s'mores, so they could eat by the lake. Once they got there, Derek and Allison set up some of the logs in the fire pit, and Scott was about to add some newspaper for kindling when Mori stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Let us take care of that, Scott," she said.

Scott turned to her, shrugged, and backed away to stand with Allison.

"Stiles, Kaede, Lydia," she said. "We are going to light the fire."

"Okay," Stiles said, confused but reaching for the newspaper.

"Not with that," Mori said quickly.

Stiles screwed up his face. "Aw, come on, Mori! Really? Now? We're supposed to be here to have fun!"

She smiled at him and shook her head affectionately. "Well, the sooner we light the fire, the sooner we can have fun."

"Fine!" Stiles said, dropping the newspaper. "What do you want us to do?"

"We are all going to sit around the fire pit, and combine out efforts to ignite the wood," she said.

"You mean like with the torches?" Lydia asked.

"This will be much more difficult," Mori said with a sadistically pleased note, settling down in front of the fire pit. "It is much harder to make wood catch fire than a wick soaked in oil."

Stiles scowled when he saw Lydia's eyes widen at the challenge. He couldn't believe she was actually smiling! Kaede sat down next to her, face inscrutable, no stranger to training. Stiles was the last to sit down.

"Now, hold out your hands toward the logs, and focus," Mori said, closing her eyes. 

Stiles watched as Lydia and Kaede followed suit, and he eventually did the same. After a few minutes, he cracked one eye open and looked at the others. They all seemed so serene, like they actually knew what they were doing. He closed his eyes again, shifted a little, and tried to concentrate.

"What are they doing?" Danny whispered to Allison.

She shrugged and shook her head. "Some chi thing, I guess. Mori's been drilling them with tiki torches in Scott's backyard all last month. They punch at the torch," she said, demonstrating a forward punch for him, "and try to make the flame go out. Then they punch at it with the other hand," she said, drawing the first hand back as she punched with her other hand, "and try to light it again."

Danny raised his eyebrows. "That actually works?"

Allison nodded. "Sometimes, yeah. They're all pretty good at making the flame go out now. Lydia and Kaede can make the flame come back most of the time. Stiles still has trouble with that part, though."

"Hey!" Stiles exclaimed. "I can hear you, you know!"

"Sorry!" Allison said, rubbing the top of his head. "Come on," she said to Scott and Danny, tilting her head towards the lake. "Let's go for a walk."

"Oh, that's okay," Danny said, waving them off. "You to go ahead."

Allison smiled at him, her dimples appearing like magic on her cheeks. Danny smiled back as she reached for Scott's arm, and they began walking at a leisurely pace along the shore.

"Hey, Danny!" Isaac called out from some distance away, where he was standing with the other werewolves. "We're gonna go for a run in the woods! You should come with us!"

Danny scrunched up his face hesitantly, and then Boyd added, "Yeah, come on!" He gestured at the four sitting around the fire pit. "They're probably going to be at it for a while. It's gonna be pretty boring to watch."

Danny glanced at his friends at the fire pit, and then up at the werewolves. 

"Yeah, sure, I'll go with you," he said as he jogged over to them. 

Boyd put an arm around his shoulders and slapped him on the back. 

"So, when you said for a run, did you mean like for exercise, or something?" Danny asked.

The four werewolves laughed, and Isaac threw his head up, howling. He was soon joined by the others, and Danny found himself surrounded by a cacophony of noise. He felt his heart start to race, but it was only partly because of fear. As the others surged ahead of him, he ran faster to catch up. He was surprised at the exhilaration he felt, and he couldn't help it, but he had the biggest grin on his face.

Mori listened as the others left, then berated herself for becoming distracted. She tried to focus again, to sense the others as they concentrated on their task. Because they were so new to this, she would have to act as their guide. She was the one that would have to form and focus the energy that would hopefully ignite the fire, even if her experience with chi was scarcely more than theirs. The energy coming off of Kaede and Stiles was almost palpable. She had never felt anything like it. The wood would never light for them as individuals; it was only through their concerted effort that it could work, and even then, she was not completely sure that it would. The whole exercise was an experiment, but even if it didn't work, she hoped they would still learn something from it.

She felt the moment when they started working as one. She and Kaede were sitting across from each other, and she could swear she could almost feel his energy entering her body and then exiting again through her hands. Suddenly, there was a small amount of heat emanating from the fire pit. It was slight, but it was there. She tried to use her mind to guide Lydia and Stiles into joining what she and Kaede were doing. Her breathing was steady, and she could hear that the others had synced their breaths with hers, the short months of training already manifesting as discipline.

Lydia's mind was like a cobra, casting about for something to latch onto. Stiles energy was pouring off of him like a river, and without knowing it, Lydia suddenly drew his energy inside of her. She gasped softly, and quickly focused, directing it back out through her palms. 

Mori felt the wood get a little warmer, but nowhere near hot enough to ignite. Focusing more, she tried to gather their collective energies at the center of the fire pit. If just one more connection could be made, all four of them would be linked together. She tried to sense the way the energy was flowing between her and Kaede, and between Stiles and Lydia, picturing it like two streams crossing each other, but somehow not intermingling. She felt Stiles' mind, searching tentatively. What he lacked in training and discipline, he more than made up for in sheer power. Initially, they had believed it was because he had never used his power before, but he had been training for almost two months now, and the amount of energy coming off of him was as strong as ever, significantly more than Kaede. If he ever learned to focus it, he would be formidable indeed.

Like a fox, slyly making its way out of its den, Mori could sense Stiles probing. It was as if he was unaware of the connection he currently had with Lydia. Mori reach out with her own mind, but Stiles was slippery and unfocused. She tried to concentrate on her breathing, hoping to settle him back into the routine of it, but she could still sense his mind, uncertainly searching, groping, and prodding. She was about to turn her mind to Lydia instead when a flood of energy hit her, and it was almost too much, but she forced it back out through her hands, and the wood grew warmer. She was connected to Stiles now, and through Stiles, Lydia. Hearing Kaede's soft grunt, she knew that he was aware that the connection had been made as well. 

They had managed to complete the circle, and now, if they could just focus their energies, the fire would be lit. She was sure of it! Mori heard a soft crack, and she allowed herself to open her eyes. There was the faintest wisp of smoke rising from the center of the fire pit. She had to stop herself from gasping, because she could also see the way they were all connected through the commingling of their energies. Orange light was flowing out of each of their hands to each other person in the circle, forming a strange glowing pattern over the fire pit. At the center, directly beneath the wisp of smoke, was a pinprick of brilliant white.

Sensing a shift in what was happening, the others opened their eyes. Lydia and Stiles did gasp at what they saw, but they were disciplined enough to limit their reactions to only that. Mori noticed the impossibly bright white of Stiles' and Kaede's eyes, and the pale purple smoke rising off of Kaede and Lydia. Glancing down, she could see it coming off of her hands as well. As she watched, the pinprick of light in the fire pit grew hotter, and there was a sharp crack this time that drew all of their attention. 

Now united in a single purpose, they focused on that dot of light. The column of smoke above it grew wider, and the wood around it began to grow hot and red. In a few minutes, there was the soft rush of sound that was the wood igniting, and a small candle-sized flame appeared right where the dot of light had been. After that, it was simply a matter of keeping the flame alive until they had a decent-sized fire going that no longer needed their help, and Stiles flopped backwards, gasping.

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed. "That was awesome!" Lifting himself up on his elbows, he looked at the others. "But, I don't want to do that again."

"Don't worry," Mori said, standing up and dusting herself off. "We won't have to do that again until tomorrow night."

"Ugh!" Stiles groused, flopping backwards again with his arms stretched out to the sides. "Look at how dark it is, now! It must have taken us over an hour to do that!"

"Yes," Mori replied, "and I expect us to do it in half that time tomorrow, now that we know what to do."

"Have you not done that before?" Kaede asked.

Mori scoffed. "Of course not! I have never trained with a Spirit Walker before, let alone two. We would probably need twenty Night Flowers to do that if you two were not helping us."

"You mean, you didn't even know if it would work?" Stiles asked incredulously as he rolled over and pushed himself up. 

"No," Mori answered simply.

Stiles looked like he was about to protest being used as a guinea pig, but then he placed a hand on his stomach. "Wow, that made me really hungry. Where are the sandwiches?"

Kaede handed him the bag of food, and Stiles dug out a sandwich and an apple before tossing it back to him.

Lydia laughed. "Well, whatever that was, it was cool." She stood up and accepted the bag of food that Kaede was holding out for her. "And, the orange light coming out of our hands and the light that was coming out of your eyes!" Lydia exclaimed, looking at Kaede and Stiles. "What was that?!"

"That is how the mystical energy of a Spirit Walker manifests itself," Kaede answered. "I have never connected myself to someone else like that before, but my guess is that you were able to see what we could see because of the connection."

They all turned at the sound of running feet coming from the forest. Stiles smiled as Derek erupted from the trees with Danny on his back, with Isaac, Erica, and Boyd close behind. Danny let out a whoop and punched his hand in the air like a little kid, jumping down as they approached the fire pit.

"It was so awesome!" Danny exclaimed, his eyes wide. "We were all running, and they were howling, and I thought they were gonna leave me behind, but they kept circling back for me, and I don't know, it was just so cool! Like being part of a wolf pack or something!" Danny was breathing hard with excitement, talking faster than any of them had ever seen before. "And, we kept running, and yelling, and I totally thought someone was gonna call the park service or something, 'cuz it was LOUD! And, when I started getting tired, Derek told me to get on his back, and dude! He is fast!" he ended with a huge grin.

Stiles had made his way over to Derek while Danny was talking, and was now wrapped up in Derek's arms.

"You never give me piggy-back rides," Stiles said, sounding jealous as he poked Derek softly in the stomach.

Derek grinned and kissed his temple. "You never asked."

"Can I have a piggy-back ride," Stiles asked, all wide-eyed innocence.

Derek growled low in his throat, turned around and bent forward a little. Stiles leapt onto his back, and Derek hooked his arms under Stiles legs, taking off along the edge of the shore. 

Stiles started laughing maniacally, and stuck one of his hands up in the air, screaming, "Woo hoo!" as everyone cheered them on.

He reached out his hand to high five Scott when they passed him and Allison. Allison laughed, whirling around and smacking Stiles on the ass as they flew by. Stiles yelped at that, but it was a happy sound.

"I see you got the fire started!" Scott called out the rest of the group.

"Come on!" Danny yelled back to them. "It's time to toast some marshmallows!" 

Scott and Allison jogged back to the fire and accepted the marshmallows on sticks that Erica was holding out for them. 

"How long did it take to get the fire going?" Allison asked.

"Basically the whole time you were gone," Lydia said. "But, it didn't feel that long. Mori says we have to do it again tomorrow night, but we're gonna try to do it faster."

"We _will_ do it faster," Mori corrected, with a raised eyebrow.

"Right!" Lydia conceded, punctuating her statement with her marshmallow stick.

They were all happily eating s'mores by the time Derek came back with Stiles, who announced their return with a long and exuberant "Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!" Stiles leapt off of Derek's back and ran the last couple of yards himself, crashing into Scott's open arms.

"Oh my God!" Stiles gasped as Scott laughed, trying to hold him steady. "I have the best boyfriend in the world!"

Unable to help himself, Scott maneuvered Stiles into a headlock and gave him a noogie, while Stiles grunted and tried to break away. Scott released him and gave him a small shove, which sent him tumbling into Derek, who grabbed him, and abruptly sat down on a log, pulling Stiles down into his lap.

"I'll have you know," Stiles said, pointing his finger at Scott and squirming in feigned annoyance, "that I am not just some werewolf toy for you all to play with."

"Yes you are," Derek said, smiling and shoving his nose into Stiles' ear.

"Ugh!' Stiles exhaled, trying to push Derek's face away with his hands. "Gerr off!"

Derek clamped down on Stiles' fingers with his teeth.

"Hey!" Stiles exclaimed, snatching his hands back, and holding them to his chest like he was protecting an injured baby bird. He gave Derek a wounded look.

Derek quickly leaned forward, giving Stiles a peck on the lips. Stiles' expression softened, and he gently grabbed the back of Derek's head to pull him in for a real kiss.

"I want a werewolf boyfriend," Danny sighed, smiling sadly.

Mori saw Isaac perk up at that to give Danny an inquisitive look, but Danny was too busy watching Stiles and Derek to notice.

They slowly started to head back to the cabin in one's and two's as the night wore on, until it was only Danny and Kaede left at the fire.

"Should I put another log on?" asked Danny. "Or, are you gonna head back soon."

"It is up to you," Kaede replied. "I do not get cold."

"Oh," Danny said, nodding. "Is that a Night Flower thing?"

"Yes," Kaede said, "but a Spirit Walker thing, as well. If Stiles has the proper training, he will be able to keep himself warm, too."

Kaede cocked his head, watching the fire's reflection in Danny's eyes. "You seem to be taking the news about your friends quite well," he said after a while.

Danny huffed, nodded slowly and shrugged. "What can you do? They're my friends. I can't pretend that I don't know about it, and I've kind of known something weird was going on for while, now." He sighed. "I just wish I had known sooner. Maybe I could've helped more. With Jackson."

His face grew sad as he looked into the fire. He remembered going on camping trips with Jackson when they were kids, and coming to the cabin with him and Lydia when they were older. Jackson was his best friend, and now he didn't even know where Jackson was.

He looked up at Kaede. "It's getting late; I think I'm gonna turn in. Should I put the fire out?"

"Yes," Kaede said, standing up smoothly. "I will go back with you."

Danny grabbed the bucket of wet sand and dumped it on the few remaining embers. Brushing the sand off his hands, he started walking down the path. He didn't have a flashlight, but the moon was up and half full, so the path was fairly easy to pick out.

"So, the Night Flower thing," Danny began. "Can anyone do it?"

"You must be born a Night Flower," Kaede said. "We must train, always, but without the natural abilities of our clan, the training would only take you so far."

"And, the werewolves?" Danny asked.

"A werewolf can be born that way, or be turned by the bite of an Alpha."

"Alpha?" Danny asked.

"Yes, an Alpha, like Derek."

Danny's eyes grew wide, but he didn't say anything more. He opened the door to the cabin and let Kaede in before entering himself. 

Someone had thoughtfully pulled out the beds from both of the couches, and set out blankets and pillows. Danny grabbed his sleeping clothes and his toothbrush, and went to the bathroom. Kaede changed his clothes and lay down, listening to the sounds in the house. Everyone else was asleep except for Stiles and Derek, who were talking in their room.

"What is that?" Derek asked, although the tone of his voice made it clear he knew exactly what it was that he was asking about.

"It's a condom, duh!" Stiles exclaimed.

"You do realize that this house is full of people that can hear every single thing that happens in here?" Derek asked incredulously.

"I don't care," Stiles stated.

"Yeah?" Derek replied. "Well, I do."

"Oh, come on!" Stiles whined.

"I can't believe you!" Derek said, laughing. "Are you actually begging for sex?"

"Derek! We've been going out for months, and I am still a virgin! I have, like, the worst blue balls known to humankind!"

"I already told you, no!" Derek said, emphatically. "You're still seventeen."

"Ugh! Fine!" Kaede heard a body flopping on the bed. "But, I'm just warning you now, when I turn eighteen, the sex after all of this built up anticipation might actually result in one of us dying, and I don't think it's going to be me."

"I'll take my chances," Derek said, laughing again. 

Kaede could hear the sounds of them kissing.

Danny came back then, saying, "The bathroom's all yours."

"Thank you," Kaede replied, and got up to brush his teeth.

 

* * *

 

Derek sputtered when the water hit his face, his outstretched hands woefully inadequate as protection from Stiles' aquatic assault. The water was cold, but the air was warm, and the sun was bright. The accuracy and volume of water that Stiles was able to project by slicing his hand into the surface of the lake was truly impressive, and Kaede suspected he was somehow channeling his chi into the effort. A laugh-filled shriek escaped from Stiles' lips when he saw Derek growl and lower himself into a predatory crouch, his tensed muscles glistening with droplets of water, jewel-like in the sunlight. Stiles turned, trying to run, but the knee-deep water prevented him from moving very fast. Derek leaped, his strong arms wrapping around Stiles' pale lithe torso, and they both crashed into the water with a splash that sent Allison and Lydia shrieking and scrambling from where they lounged with Kaede at the water's edge. Both of the young men rose from the lake, like gods newly formed, blinking water from their eyes, pausing only for a moment before the wrestling began again.

Kaede watched as Derek and Stiles continued to play, Stiles in long, dark blue board shorts with a white hibiscus flower pattern, and Derek in black swim trunks with a wide gray and white stripe going down each side. Kaede might have been concerned about Stiles' pale skin burning in the early afternoon sun if he had not seen Derek slathering him with sun block earlier. He amused himself briefly by trying to count the moles on Stiles' body, but gave up after a while, losing track as Stiles twisted and lunged, splashed and fell.

Simply put, Derek was stunning, slabs of muscle moving like wild animals trapped under his smooth skin, channeling the water between deep grooves every time Stiles splashed at him. And Stiles, somehow still innocent of his allure, was breathtaking, his long, lean muscles gliding beneath creamy skin, an assortment of tiny moles, and a soft trail of fuzz leading down from his navel that was impossible to miss. Both of them seemed to have degenerated into elementary school levels of maturity, which was at once amusing and annoying for everyone to watch. 

At one point, Derek grabbed Stiles and tossed him into the air, Stiles eliciting a yell filled with very real fear until Derek caught him, laughing under the harmless barrage of Stiles' angry fists. The two of them together, glistening wet, young and fit and filled with joy; it was a glorious sight to see.

Mori, Isaac and Danny were at the grill, preparing a late lunch for everyone, while Boyd, Erica and Scott were setting up a net for volleyball later. Kaede was content to relax in the sun with Lydia and Allison, as they all admired the glistening display of manhood before them.

Derek laughed, grabbing at Stiles' waistband as he tried to get away.

"No, Derek! No!" Stiles protested playfully, trying to swat at Derek's hand.

Easily hauling Stiles in, he gently turned Stiles around to face him and leaned in for a kiss. 

"God, if they were any cuter, I would go into a diabetic coma," Lydia remarked off-handedly to Allison's snickering. "Hey, when is lunch gonna be ready? I'm starving!" she yelled out over her shoulder.

"In a minute!" Danny called back. "The chicken's still bleeding!"

Without warning, there were three more bodies in the water, Boyd, Erica and Scott having finished setting up the volleyball net, and Lydia had to wonder if she had somehow wandered in on a swimwear fashion shoot. She smiled, tossing her wide-brimmed hat to the side. Grabbing Allison's hand, she ran to the water, pulling Allison along with her. Realizing he was suddenly sitting alone, Kaede rose from his chair and joined them, determined to figure out just how Stiles was splashing the water like that.

Stiles and Allison were laughing and splashing each other when they noticed that everyone else had gone silent. They were all standing still and facing the same direction across the lake. Even Isaac, Mori and Danny had run down to the water's edge.

"What is it?" Allison asked hesitantly. 

"Screaming," Scott answered. "It's coming from the other side of the lake."

"I'll go check it out," Isaac offered.

"Not by yourself, you're not," Erica replied.

"We will go with you," Mori said, volunteering herself and Kaede as they shared a look between the.

"Me, too," Derek said. "Everyone else, stay here!" he ordered, taking off along the shore with Isaac, Erica, Mori and Kaede in tow. 

After they had closed about half of the distance, Derek turned to Mori, who was running by his side. "You and Kaede are better at keeping hidden than we are. Can the two of you scout ahead and check it out?"

Mori gave him a single nod, squatted down without breaking stride and leapt into the trees. Kaede did the same, and once they were in the treetops, they focused, pulling their sense of themselves inwards, disappearing from view. They surged ahead of the werewolves, leaping from branch to branch like flying squirrels. 

Reaching the campground a full minute ahead of the werewolves, they found the people there clustered into five different groups. 

"The ambulance is on its way!" someone yelled, running towards the group furthest away from them.

"Oh! My baby! Somebody help her!" a woman wailed.

Still invisible, Mori and Kaede walked among them.

"Stay with this group, Kaede," Mori whispered. "I am going to see what is happening at the group by the tree."

Kaede crept up to the group that Mori had indicated, sensing her presence leave him as she continued on. Peering over the shoulders of the people in front of him, he saw a man giving CPR to a young girl. He knew immediately that she was dead. More importantly, he could sense the faint traces of mystical energy coming off of her. It felt cold and wet. And, angry.

Silently, he walked over to the group to his left. This time, they were crowded around a middle-aged man, whose head was being cradled by a sobbing woman. He too was dead, and Kaede could sense the same energy signature surrounding his body. Looking at the people around him and listening to them whisper to each other, he got the sense that they did not all know each other. These people just happened to be staying at the same campground. Everyone was focused on the bodies; nobody would notice if he became visible, and he would be able to find out more if he could just ask some questions. Releasing the part of himself that he was holding at his center, he became visible again. As he predicted, no one noticed or raised an alarm. 

Leaning forward to the woman in front of him, he asked, "What happened?"

"Nobody knows," she answered with a southern accent, not even bothering to turn to look at him. "We just heard screaming, so we came out of our tents." She did turn to look at him now. "There's a little girl, died right over there," she said, gesturing at the group of people that Kaede had just come from. "Five people, I think," she said shaking her head and turning back to look at the dead man. "Nobody knows why."

Kaede nodded solemnly. He sensed Mori approaching, and turned to look at her, but she was still invisible.

"There was a dead boy at the tree," she whispered. "Another dead boy at the group furthest away. What about here?"

"A dead girl and this man here," he whispered. "I believe there were five deaths in all. These people did not die of natural causes. There is a strange energy about them. I think you should let Derek and the others know it is safe for them to join us. No one will know that we are not camping here."

He felt her presence leave him again, and he moved on to the last group. The people there were surrounding the dead body of a teenage girl. The people closest to her looked like they might be her family. He walked back to where Mori would be coming back with the others, meeting them at the edge of the campground.

"There are five dead," he confirmed grimly. "And something unnatural killed them."

"What was it?" Derek asked.

"I do not know," Kaede said, shaking his head. 

Derek looked around at his group. "There's five of us," he said. "We should each stay near a body and see what we can find out." 

They all nodded and split up, each heading to a different group. For the most part, they watched quietly, keeping to the sidelines when the paramedics arrived, carefully gathering whatever scraps of information they could without drawing attention to themselves. When the paramedics left, carting away each of the bodies in a body bag, they left the campground together, sharing what they had discovered.

"I don't think there was any kind of connection between the people who died," Isaac said, as the others nodded, apparently having come to the same conclusion themselves. "Do you think it was just random?"

Erica shrugged. "It's possible."

"Was it the same thing that killed all of them?" Derek asked.

"Yes," Kaede answered. "I sensed the same thing from each of the bodies. The energy around them felt cold and wet. And, angry."

"Have you ever seen anything like that before?" Derek pressed.

"No," Kaede answered.

"What about you?" Derek asked Mori.

Mori shook her head.

Erica let out an angry and defeated sigh. "We can't even go on vacation without something weird happening."

They all walked back in silence to their friends. Back at the fire pit, they found the others finishing their lunch, a large pile of grilled chicken and a platter of corn on the cob set aside for them.

"What was it?" Stiles asked, coming up to Derek and putting his arm around Derek's waist.

"Five people dead," Derek answered.

"What?! How?" asked Allison.

"We do not know," Kaede said. "But, their deaths were not natural. There was a strange mystical energy coming from the bodies."

"Mystical energy?" asked Danny.

Kaede nodded. "It felt cold and wet and angry."

They were all silent for a moment before Lydia finally asked, "Shouldn't we do something?"

"We will need to go back," Mori said. "There were no witnesses, and neither Kaede nor I have seen anything like this before, so we do not have much to go on. We will need to contact our superiors. This will be a good time to show you how to use the mirrors."

Lydia nodded carefully. "Well, you should all eat something first. Danny finished cooking everything."

"Thank you, Danny," Mori said.

"No problem," Danny replied. 

The five that had just returned grabbed some food, and sat down in the chairs around the fire pit. A grim silence had settled over the group. Danny, unused to these kinds of situations, was fidgeting nervously. Mori and Kaede quickly finished their food and motioned for Lydia to go with them to the cabin.

Once Mori and Lydia had gotten to their room, Mori dug out her jade mirror from her bag. Kaede was in the living room, trying to contact his superiors with his own mirror.

"Wow," Lydia commented, admiring Mori's mirror. "That's really pretty."

"Thank you," Mori replied. "It has been in my family for a very long time." She looked at Lydia, her eyes softening. "There must be records of what happened to the Koga mirrors after your family disappeared. I will ask my parents to try to find them for you."

Lydia smiled sadly and nodded. "Thanks."

"This is how you use a jade mirror," Mori said, the mirror laying flat in the palms of her hands. "I am going to look into the mirror and think about my parents. As I focus my thoughts on this mirror, it will begin to glow, and my parents' mirror will begin to glow as well. They will sense that I am trying to contact them and will go to their mirror. They will think about me, and the connection will be made. Then we will be able to talk to each other."

"Cool," Lydia said, but then she frowned. "But, why don't you just use a phone?"

Mori smiled. "I sometimes wonder about that myself, but this is how the Night Flowers have always communicated. The mirrors do have some advantages. No one can trace your communication, which is sometimes important in our work, and you do not need to ever worry about charging a battery. Also, there is no cell phone service out here."

Lydia's eyes went wide as she nodded. "Oh, right! I forgot about that."

"Okay, I will need to concentrate to make the connection, but we will be able to talk normally once the connection has been made."

Lydia nodded and watched as Mori sat on the edge of the bed and looked into the mirror. Mori's breathing slowed and her eyes became unfocused as the jade began to glow softly.

"Hello, daughter," said a man's voice from the mirror.

"Greetings, father," Mori said. "I trust you are well?"

"Yes, I am well," he replied. "And you, my child? We have not heard from you in some time. I trust the training goes well."

"Yes," Mori said. "Lydia is here with me now."

Lydia caught Mori's eye, hesitant, but Mori nodded encouragingly.

"Hi, Mr. Tanaka!" Lydia said, cheerfully.

"Hello, Lydia," he replied. "We are honored that you have agreed to become a member of our clan."

"The honor is all mine, sir," said Lydia. "I'm just glad you found out all of that stuff about my family."

"Yes, the disappearance of the Kogas is a great mystery," he said. "Perhaps one day you will journey to Japan to learn more about them."

"I look forward to it," Lydia replied.

After a short pause, he continued, saying, "Daughter, I assume you have a more serious purpose for activating the mirror?"

"Yes, father," Mori said. "We are currently with the werewolf pack at Crystal Lake. Lydia offered us the use of her family's cabin for a brief vacation. There were several deaths earlier today at the campground on the other side of the lake. Kaede informed us that there was a strange energy around the bodies. He described the energy as cold, wet, and angry."

"Hmm," her farther mused. "That is strange indeed. Unfortunately, it does not sound like anything I am familiar with. Your mother is not present at the moment. We will need to look into this and contact you when we find something."

"Thank you father," Mori replied. "May the shadows keep you."

"May the shadows keep you," he said back to her. "It was a pleasure speaking with you, Lydia. May the shadows keep you."

Lydia looked nervously at Mori again, and Mori smiled back, nodding.

"May the shadows keep you," Lydia said, watching as the light from the jade slowly faded away.

"I have to admit, that was pretty cool!" Lydia said, excitedly. "Do all the mirrors look the same?"

"Each mirror is unique, because they are made from natural stone and carved by hand," Mori said. "Some families have a specific pattern they use for the jade, and not all of them are round. But, they all do the same thing."

"And, you can use the mirror to contact anyone else that has a mirror?" Lydia asked.

"Yes," Mori replied, smiling and standing up. "We should go see if Kaede was able to find out anything."

Lydia nodded, getting up to go to the living room. Kaede was sitting on one of the couches with his mirror in his hands. Lydia noticed it was carved from white jade.

"I was able to speak with my father," Mori said. "He did not know what to make of the deaths, but he and my mother will look into it and contact me if they find anything."

"I spoke with my aunt," Kaede said. "She did not know what to make of the deaths, either. Spirit Walkers are so rare that my observations may not help them in determining what killed those people. There may not be any records that can help us."

Mori nodded. "That is true. Perhaps once your training with Stiles is done, you can begin keeping records of your own observations as a Spirit Walker. They might be helpful in the future."

"Yes," Kaede replied, standing up. "That is a good idea. Shall we join the others?"

"Yeah, we should probably get back to them," Lydia said. "They're probably anxious to know if we've learned anything."

They made their way back to the lake, where the others had gotten a game of volleyball started.

Stiles, Derek and Erica were on one side, Danny, Scott and Allison on the other. Isaac and Boyd were watching from the sidelines, but everyone stopped when they saw Mori, Lydia and Kaede approaching.

"Did you find out anything?" Stiles asked, catching the ball.

"No," Mori said. "They are going to look into it and contact us with what they find."

"Oh," Stiles replied, looking crestfallen. "Well, you wanna come play volleyball with us while we wait?" he asked, holding the volleyball out towards them.

"I think I'll sit this one out," Lydia said. "You two go ahead," she said, gesturing at Mori and Kaede.

Mori smiled and nodded, joining Stiles' team. Kaede went on the other side.

"Woo!" Allison cheered, clapping her hands. "Come on, Stiles!"

Stiles snickered, tossed the ball into the air, leapt and hit, sending the ball over the net. Scott launched himself across the court, hitting the ball and sending it into a corner where no one was standing.

"Hey!" Stiles yelled. "I said no werewolf powers!"

Scott smiled at him and shrugged, jogging back to his position. Stiles grimaced, shaking his head as he ran after the ball. They played for another hour or so, not really able to get into the game with the deaths of five people hanging over their heads. 

They eventually wound up back at the fire pit, watching as Mori, Kaede, Stiles and Lydia tried to light the fire again with their chi. As Mori promised, it only took about a half hour this time, and when Stiles flopped backwards again, this time into Derek's waiting lap, she told them she expected to cut their time in half again the following night.

"She's trying to kill us," Stiles whined, looking up into Derek's smiling eyes.

"I know," Derek said, rubbing Stiles' cheeks with his thumbs. He bent down to kiss Stiles, and Stiles reached up to grab the back of Derek's head.

"This is very Spiderman of you," Stiles mumbled against his mouth. "This whole upside-down kissing thing."

"You are such a dork," Derek said, laughing, and then pressing his lips down harder against Stiles' to shut him up.

"My mother is trying to contact me," Mori said, suddenly. 

She jogged over to the bench where her mirror was glowing, and sat down with it in her hands while everyone gathered around.

"Daughter," her mother's voice said. "We have news for you."

"Thank you, mother." Mori replied. "I am with the wolf pack, now. They are all listening."

"Good," her mother replied. "They will more than likely want to hear this. We have done some research and we have discovered some disturbing things about your lake. It seems there have been many deaths attributed to drowning there. The strange thing is that most of the people that drowned were not near the water."

"How long ago did the deaths start?" Mori asked.

"They go back over fifty years. Every year, during the summer, a few people die this way. However, this is the first time there was more than a single death on the same day."

"Do you have any idea what is causing it?" Mori asked.

"I remember an assignment I was once sent on when I was not much older than you are now," her mother began. "It was to a beach not far from our home. I was part of a team of fifteen Night Flowers. Only five of us returned. There is no good way to translate this to English, but I believe you are dealing with a 'Rage of the Sea.'"

"An angry kami?" Mori pressed.

"Yes," her mother replied. "We contacted Kaede's family before we contacted you. We are sending a team to help you. Hopefully, with two Spirit Walkers, your casualties will not be so high."

"But, mother," Mori protested. "Stiles is not yet even half trained!"

"Trained or not, he will need to help you with this, or people will die."

Mori's face grew tight, but she nodded. "Yes, mother."

"You will be joined by the other Night Flowers within the next twenty-four hours," her mother said. "Until then, I suggest you stay inside and continue training with Lydia and Stiles."

"Yes, mother."

"May the shadows keep you."

Mori let out a small puff of pent up breath. "May the shadows keep you."


	5. Rage of the Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So, the Night Flowers that were maintaining the barrier were the one's that died?" Derek asked.
> 
> "Yes," Kaori replied.
> 
> "And, you want Stiles to be the one maintaining the barrier when we go after this thing tonight?" he pressed.
> 
> "Yes," Kaori said.
> 
> "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Derek shouted, standing up. "If you think I am going to stand back and watch while Stiles risks his life for the rest of us, you are out of you minds!"

Everyone gathered up the leftover food to bring back to the cabin. After putting it all away, they regrouped in the living room. Mori sat in a chair at one end of the coffee table with Kaede standing at her back. Allison, Scott, Isaac, Erica and Boyd were all kind of piled on top of each other on one couch, not that it seemed to bother any of them, while Derek was stretched out on the other, with Stiles sitting in the "V" of his legs and his head resting against Derek's chest. Lydia sat at the other end of the coffee table, and Danny was standing behind her with his arms crossed, his expression patient as he waited for someone to start explaining.

"So, what do we know?" asked Derek, gesturing at the two veteran Night Flowers.

"Not much," Mori said. "I have only heard stories; I have never fought a 'Rage of the Sea' myself."

"What was that word you used when you and your mom were talking about it?" asked Lydia. '"Kami?'"

Mori nodded. "Everything has a spirit. It is called a kami. The lake has a kami, trees have kamis, animals, the earth, the sky. This cabin has a kami. Even concepts and ideas, like hope or mathematics. The kami is how something manifests itself in the spirit world."

"But, you asked your mother if this was an angry kami," Lydia pressed.

"Yes," Mori replied, bringing her eyebrows together and tilting her head to the side. "A kami is not normally angry or happy. They just _are_. And, a kami does not typically interact with the physical world."

"But, this must happen enough that you have a name for it," Derek said. "'Rage of the Sea' is pretty specific."

"Like I said, I have only heard stories," Mori repeated. "And, because it is so rare, we only have theories. But, when this does happen, it usually happens with a kami that is associated with water. The most common theory is that a 'Rage of the Sea' occurs when a person takes their own life by drowning themselves in a body of water. Suicide is not a natural act. If a person were to use a river or a lake in such a manner, it would be an affront to the kami, so much so that it could change the kami into something that it is not supposed to be. Because _we_ are mostly water, water kamis are very attuned to us. Some say that a water kami will take into itself all of the anger and sadness that a person was feeling if they took their own life in this way. When this happen, some believe that it forms a bond between the kami and the physical world."

"How do we kill it?" Erica asked, ever the practical one.

"You cannot kill a kami," Kaede said. "Even if you were able to find a way to destroy the lake, it would only serve to anger the kami further."

"Then, how do we get rid of it?" asked Stiles.

"That is why a team of Night Flowers is coming to help us," Mori said. "We have ways of trapping a kami, although they are dangerous."

Allison leaned forward with a scared look on her face. "Your mother said that most of the people she went with to deal with the other 'Rage of the Sea' didn't come back."

Mori took a deep breath. "That is true. But, they did not have a Spirit Walker with them, and we have two."

"How does that help us?" Stiles asked, sitting up straighter.

Mori shook her head. "I am not sure. But, we will have time to figure all of that out once the others are here. For now, I think it is more important to continue our training with you and Lydia. We do not have much time."

"What about the rest of us?" asked Boyd. "Are we just supposed to sit here and watch?" 

"I am sorry, Boyd," Mori said. "My experience with this is very limited. All I know is that my mother suggested we stay inside until the others arrive. I think it would be best to listen to her."

"But, there has to be something we can do," Isaac said, sounding frustrated.

"Mori," Derek began. "Why don't you take Kaede, Lydia and Stiles into one of the bedrooms. I'll try to come up with some drills to keep the others from going stir crazy."

"I think that is a good idea," Mori said, standing up. "Come, we can use the room that Lydia and I are staying in."

As they walked away, they heard Derek saying, "All right. Push all of the furniture to the sides. We need a clear space to work with."

In Mori and Lydia's room, Mori led Stiles, Lydia and Kaede through a simple exercise. First, they joined their minds together, much like they did when they were trying to light the fire, then they would pull back and separate, and then join their minds together again. When Stiles started to fidget, Mori decided they should take a break.

"Lydia," Kaede said, as the others were standing to leave. "Could you stay for a moment?"

"Yeah, sure," she replied, sitting back down on the bed. "We'll catch up with you in a minute," she said to Mori and Stiles. 

Mori nodded once and left the room. Stiles blinked a few times, glanced at Kaede, then Lydia, before looking down with a small strange smile. Nodding slowly, he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Kaede turned to Lydia. "You have come a long way from the time I arrived," he said, very sincerely. "You will be an amazing Night Flower once your training is complete."

"Thanks, Kaede," Lydia replied. "That really means a lot to me. You have been an excellent teacher."

Kaede smiled and reached for her hand. Lydia stood up before he could grab it, her breath catching. Kaede frowned.

"Look, Kaede," Lydia said, wringing her hands together. "I think you're great…"

"Do you not find me attractive?" Kaede asked, cutting her off.

Lydia spun around to face him, "No! I mean, yes, of course I do, but it's not that. I was involved with someone, about a year ago…"

"Jackson," Kaede interjected with a sneer.

"Yes," Lydia said, sitting down next to him.

"Did you love him?" Kaede asked, squinting at her.

"I did," she said, smiling sadly at the floor. "I guess, I still do," she added, turning to look at him.

Kaede cast his eyes downward, crestfallen, realizing he had spent too much of his life alone. When had he gotten so bad at reading people?

"Look," Lydia said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. "I don't want this to sound like a brush off, because it's not. But, I would really like it if we could be friends. I know we're gonna be spending a lot of time together in the future, and I don't want things to be weird. Okay?"

Kaede smiled weakly and nodded. 

Lydia smiled back at him and nudged his shoulder. "You know, if you're interested, I think Danny might have a little crush on you."

Sighing heavily, Kaede shook his head. "I do not think I will have any luck with the people in your group."

"What do you mean?" Lydia asked, her eyebrows coming together in confusion.

Kaede stood up. "It is not important. Come," he said, plastering a smile on his face. "I would like to see what Derek is forcing the others to do."

Lydia smiled brightly back, and took the hand he offered to help her up. "It sounds like they're wrestling in there! If they scuff up the floors, my dad's gonna be pissed!

* * *

"Hey, Mori. Can you pass the salt?" Scott asked pointing with his free hand at the saltshaker.

"Here you go," Mori said, handing it to him.

Scott smiled his big goofy grin as he added some salt to the enormous pan of scrambled eggs he was making for everyone's breakfast.

"You seem really calm about this whole situation," he commented, stirring the eggs with a spatula.

"There is no other way to be, Scott," she said, as she measured sugar into the pancake batter. "Worrying about what will happen changes nothing."

He turned to her with a smirk, and touched the side of his nose with his index finger. "I think you forgot who you were talking to. I can smell your anxiety."

Mori scowled and mixed the batter faster.

Stiles walked into the kitchen and clapped a hand onto each of their backs. 'How's breakfast coming? Can I help?"

Mori shoved the bowl at him. "Here, you can finish making the pancakes. I need to talk to Kaede."

Stiles and Scott stared at her as she stormed out of the kitchen.

"What's her problem?" Stiles asked.

Scott just shrugged and continued to stir the eggs.

Mori found Kaede playing a game of chess with Lydia in the living room. He appeared to be losing badly.

"Kaede," Mori said, "I need to speak with you."

"Of course," he replied. He gave Lydia an apologetic look.

"Oh, don't worry about it," she said, waving them off. "We can finish this later."

Kaede dipped his head down towards her, then followed Mori to her room. Mori shut the door once they were inside, and crossed her arms.

"What are we doing?" she asked softly, hoping no one in the cabin could hear them.

"I do not understand," he replied, with an equally soft voice.

"Stiles!" she hissed. "How can we ask him to participate in this?! He is not a Night Flower, and he has only just begun his training as a Spirit Walker! Lydia is not ready for this, and the wolves have never done anything like this before. We will be leading them to their deaths!"

Kaede nodded and folded his arms. "When I first came here, I did not think highly of the wolves or our alliance with them. But, we have seen what they can do, especially Derek. You know what they told us about the kanima they had to fight. I think they understand the risk. Lydia will be with us. We will make sure she is never alone, but we will need her to help us. And, Stiles," he paused, taking a deep breath. "The boy is powerful. He is stronger than me! We need him to be there. His presence could mean the difference between success and everyone dying."

"It is too much!" Mori insisted. "Is it not enough that we have you? You have done this before! You are a Night Flower! _You_ have been trained as a Spirit Walker."

Kaede's shoulders dropped. "I have never fought a kami before. I only know what I have been taught. And, no one can truly be trained to be a Spirit Walker. We are too rare. No one knows all the things a Spirit Walker can do. No one knows how to train one. Everything we have been doing with Stiles, we have been guessing or training him like a Night Flower."

"What about the woman you met in Russia?" Mori asked. "Did you not train with her?"

"I did not speak with her long," he replied. "She was not able to tell me how she was able to see things. She had no one to train her, either. She only told me about what she could do, and then I left."

They both whipped their heads around at a sudden commotion in the living room.

"I can smell them!" they heard Derek yelling. "There's more of those damn Night Flowers in here, at least six of them!"

"Show yourselves!" Erica yelled, adding to the chaos. "We know you're here!"

Kaede and Mori bolted from the room and looked around. The others were clustered together with Danny, Stiles, Allison and Lydia at the center. Kaede blinked, shifting his vision. A quick scan of the room revealed a cluster of Night Flowers on the other side of the room.

"There," he said, pointing. "They are standing over there."

"Kaede, you're no fun," said a man of medium height, dressed in what could only be described as a ninja outfit, one of the seven people who had suddenly appeared, all dressed similarly in black, long-sleeved shirts and black pants with short, sleeveless, dark purple robes belted over the top.

Kaede's face broke into a grin, and he strode forward to embrace the one who spoke. 

"Tadashi!" Kaede said, releasing him. "It has been too long."

"Yes," Tadashi said, nodding before taking a breath and becoming serious. "It is unfortunate that our meeting could not be under better circumstances."

Kaede nodded once, grimly, then turned to Derek and the others.

"This is my cousin, Tadashi," he said, as Tadashi gave them a deep bow.

"What the hell?" Stiles blurted out. "Can't you use the front door like regular people?"

"We did," said the man near the back, who was of similar height to Kaede. He seemed to be the kind of person who wore a permanent scowl on his face, much like Derek.

"And, that is my brother, Kazuki," Kaede said. Kazuki was almost as stunningly handsome as Kaede, but rugged, whereas Kaede's features were fine.

"Beside him is my sister, Kasumi," he said, gesturing at the woman with long black hair that came down to her waist. She looked very much like Kaede, but seemed to prefer the same expression as her brother Kazuki.

"And, next to her, is the head of the Yoshida family, my aunt, Ayame," he said with a deep bow towards a woman with short, feathery hair.

"We apologize for startling you," Ayame said, though her features did not soften. "It is our way when traveling in unknown territory."

Derek regarded her for a moment before turning back to Kaede. "What about the others?"

"Those are members of the Tanaka family," Mori said, walking up to them. "Mother, father," she said, bowing to each of them in turn. "And, my cousin, Sayuri," she added, bowing to a girl that was shorter than her, but with the same long black hair.

Mori turned back to her parents. "I did not expect to see you here."

The older woman, with gray-streaked hair wrapped up tightly in a bun, stepped forward with an almost imperceptible limp. "We were not going to be part of this assignment, but I am the only one still alive who has seen a 'Rage of the Sea.' Your father and I decided it was best if we joined you."

Mori closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around her mother, who smiled and stroked Mori's hair. "It is good to see you, daughter."

"It is good to see you, too," Mori said, stepping back. "It has been too many years." She gestured to her friends behind her. "Mother, this is the werewolf pack of Beacon Hills."

Derek stepped forward, and bowed the way Mori had taught him.

"Derek, this is my mother, Kaori." 

"It is an honor to meet you," Derek said, still bowing.

Kaori returned his bow. "It is an honor to finally meet you, as well."

"And, this is my father, Shiro, head of the Tanaka family," Mori said as her father moved to stand next to her mother.

Derek bowed to him as well, saying, "It is an honor, sir."

Shiro bowed silently.

"I would also like you all to meet Lydia Martin," Mori said, addressing the Night Flowers. 

She turned to Lydia and gestured for her to step forward. Lydia gingerly made her way out from the center of the pack, smiling meekly as she became aware of everyone's eyes on her. If she had been at school and everyone was noticing her new dress or the way she had done her hair, that would have been one thing. This was something else entirely.

"As you all know," Mori began, "Lydia is the Night Flower that I found in Beacon Hills. She is one of the last remaining members of the Koga family."

The other Night Flowers regarded her with some interest, and she bowed towards them respectfully. 

"I am honored to be a member of the Clan of the Night Flowers," she said, glad that her voice didn't quaver. 

As if it was something they had practiced, the Night Flowers all bowed to her in a synchronized movement, and then stood up together.

"A Night Flower is a rare thing," Ayame said. "Even more rare to discover one so far from Japan. We were lucky to find you, and we hope that through you, the Koga family can rise again."

Lydia felt her cheeks color, so she tilted her head down. "I will do everything I can to bring honor to the Koga name."

Shiro smiled at her. "Come, everyone. We have much to discuss."

They talked through the day, trying to come up with a plan that didn't end up with most of them dead. A large portion of it was listening to Kaori talk about her previous experience, trying to tease out the things they had done that had been helpful, and which things may have lead to so many of them dying that night. It kept coming back to a single point. As powerful as the Night Flowers were, they were nothing compared to a 'Rage of the Sea,' and in the end, they were not sure what it was about that night that caused the kami to finally leave, or if in fact it had even left at all. 

"We created a barrier for it," Kaori was saying, "but it required ten of us to maintain the barrier. That only left five of us to focus on the kami. One moment, we were fighting the kami, and the next moment, it was just gone, but those that were maintaining the barrier were all dead. We have watched that coastline ever since to see if the killings would start again, but they never did."

"Why didn't you wait until you had more people to help?" asked Allison.

"There was no time," Kaori answered. "People were dying every day, and we were the only ones available to take on the assignment." She grimaced, her eyes becoming unfocused as she was haunted by the ghosts of her past. "If we had known then what I know now, we might have waited."

"So, the Night Flowers that were maintaining the barrier were the one's that died?" Derek asked.

"Yes," Kaori replied.

"And, you want Stiles to be the one maintaining the barrier when we go after this thing tonight?" he pressed.

"Yes," Kaori said.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Derek shouted, standing up. "If you think I am going to stand back and watch while Stiles risks his life for the rest of us, you are out of your minds!"

"He will not be doing it alone," Kaori said. "Kaede will be working with him to maintain the barrier."

"That's not very reassuring," Derek sneered.

"Derek," Mori cut in, "I do not think you understand. Kaede and Stiles are not like the rest of us. They are Spirit Walkers, which means they are more powerful than us. Their task will not be a physical one, it will be mystical. You saw Stiles' eyes when you tasted 'Dance of a Thousand Spirits.' You saw how the mystical energy just pours out of him. I was also not sure about this, but I understand now the nature of what Stiles has to do, and I think he can do this."

"You said yourself that he isn't even trained yet," Derek argued.

"We have been practicing lighting the fire together," Mori said. "He knows how to join his mystical energies with other people. He and Kaede are more than capable of doing this."

"Hello?" Stiles said, standing up and waving his hands at everyone. "I'd really appreciate it if you'd all stop talking about me like I'm not even here. Don't I get a say in any of this?"

Ayame squinted at him. "Well, are you willing to do this or not?"

Stiles blinked a few times before answering, "Yes. Yes, I want to do this."

Derek grabbed his hand and leaned into him. "I don't like this, Stiles. It's too dangerous."

"Is it any more dangerous than half of the crazy things we do?" Stiles asked, his eyebrows shooting up. "I can actually do something, this time. I can help! I want to help!"

"Derek," Kaori said, "I want to make this clear. Without Stiles' help, there is a good chance that some of us will die. If he does help us, we may actually come trough this without losing anyone."

"I want to help!" Stiles insisted. "I am going to help."

"What else do we need to do?" asked Lydia. "We're doing this tonight, right?"

"Yes," Shiro said. "We cannot take the risk that the kami will come back and kill again. We need someone to prepare the circle. Since Stiles and Kaede will be working with it, they should be the ones to do it."

"I'm going with them," Derek said.

"Fine," Shiro said. "We also need some water from the lake. I doubt anything will happen, but I do not want to take any chances. Mori, you and Sayuri take two of the wolves with you and bring back a gallon of lake water."

"I'll go," Boyd offered.

"Me, too," Isaac said.

"Good," Shiro said. "Go quickly, and hurry back."

Mori grabbed an empty bucket and left the cabin with the others who had been assigned a task.

"I need to prepare some of the things we need for tonight," Kaori said. "Lydia, would you come help me, please."

Lydia's eyes went wide. "Yeah, sure. Of course," she said, getting up from her seat. 

Kaori lead her to the kitchen. "Could you find a small bowl for me?"

"Yeah," Lydia said, spinning around to open the cupboard behind her. She grabbed a small white bowl and set it on the counter. "What are we making?" she asked.

"All of our research suggests that a 'Rage of the Sea' is only visible right before it strikes," Kaori said, placing a black leather case on the counter. "We need to be able to see it before that happens." She opened the case and selected a vial. "Do you know what this is?"

Lydia smiled and nodded. "'Will of the Buddha.' It increases the potency and longevity of the effects of any powder it's combined with."

"Good," Kaori said, smiling back. "I am glad you are taking to my daughter's training so well. What about this one?" she asked, holding out another vial.

Lydia took the vial from her, and examined its deep green color. "Can I smell it?" she asked.

Kaori nodded. 

Lydia pulled the cork out of vial and carefully sniffed the contents. She wrinkled her nose. "It smells like the ocean," she commented, "like seaweed and brine and stuff. I don’t think I've seen this one before."

"I thought not," Kaori said, taking the vial back from her. "I did not include this in the vials I prepared for Mori to bring here. I doubted very much she would need such a powder. Obviously, I was mistaken."

"What does it do?" Lydia asked.

"This powder will allow you to see water kami," Kaori answered. "It is called, 'Moon on the Water.'" 

"So, we're going to mix it with 'Will of the Buddha' so that it lasts longer?" Lydia asked.

"That is correct. Do you know how to use 'Will of the Buddha?'" 

"It depends on how the other powder is used," Lydia said. "Normally it's one part 'Will of the Buddha' for each part of whatever other powder you're combining it with, but usually the amounts don't have to be exact. How do you use 'Moon on the Water?''

"We must mix the powder with some of the water that the kami comes from," Kari replied. "Then we must drink the water."

Lydia scrunched up her face. "That sounds really unsanitary."

Kaori smiled and gestured with the vial of "Moon on the Water." "Do not worry, we take that into account when we are preparing this powder. The water will be completely safe to drink once we mix this into it. Although, Night Flowers, and from what I understand, werewolves, do not typically have to worry about such things."

Lydia furrowed her brow. "I've actually been meaning to ask about that. Night Flowers are supposed to heal almost as quickly as werewolves, right? I've been hurt before, I've gotten sick, and I've been a Night Flower my whole life, right?"

Kaori nodded. "It is true, you are a born Night Flower, but your training began just a few months ago. I suppose without the knowledge of what you were, your mind and body reacted to things in the way you expected a normal person to react to injury and illness. Still, I wonder. How sick have you ever really gotten in your life?"

Lydia blinked a few times, thinking. "Now that you mention it, I almost never get sick, and everyone says I should either have died or turned into a werewolf after Peter bit me."

Kaori nodded. "The power lies dormant until training begins, but it is still there in some way. We have no real way of knowing much more than that because we begin training our children while they are still very young. But, we do know that if we wait too long, the power can never be fully realized, like with your father."

Lydia shrugged. "It's just as well. I can't imagine him choosing this life."

Kaori tilted her head to the side. "Does that mean you _are_ choosing this life? Are you ready to dedicate your life to the Night Flowers?"

"Well, I still want to go to school and stuff," Lydia said. "But, yeah. I can't just pretend I don't know about any of this. I guess, now that I know I'm a Night Flower, I feel like it's my responsibility, you know?"

Kaori smiled and nodded. "I do know, as do we all. That is why we do this. Someone has to fight against the horrors in the world." Kaori sighed. "So, back to our task. With this many people, we are going to need quite a bit of powder. I think half the vial should be enough," she said tipping the "Moon on the Water" into the bowl.

"So, if we need to dissolve the 'Moon on the Water' into the lake water, then we need to dissolve the 'Will of the Buddha' into the water as well, right?" Lydia asked.

"That is correct."

"And, since you used half the vial of 'Moon on the Water,' that means we need half the vial of 'Will of the Buddha?' Should I just pour it into the same bowl?"

"Yes," Kaori said, nudging the bowl towards Lydia, as Lydia pulled the stopper from the vial.

Lydia poured half of the "Will of the Buddha" into the bowl, and then put the stopper back in.

"So, we're gonna need a big spoon and some cups," Lydia muttered as she pulled open a drawer and rummaged through its contents. Finding a big wooden spoon, she held it up in triumph, then grabbed a stack of glasses from a cupboard. "There's only eight glasses here, but I think we can share."

"That is fine," Kaori said. "We should go back to the living room."

They rejoined the others, who had been trying to come up with a plan for the night. As Lydia was setting up the glasses on the coffee table, Mori and her group returned with the bucket of lake water. Kaori dumped the powders into it and Lydia handed her the spoon so she could mix it. Stiles, Derek and Kaede returned just as they finished portioning out the water into the glasses.

"Is the circle complete?" asked Ayame.

"Yes," Kaede said. "And, Stiles knows what he is supposed to do."

"Good," Ayame replied. "It is time we finalized our plans."

"What's this?" Stiles asked as Lydia handed him a glass of water. "Ugh!" he exclaimed after sniffing it. "It smells like lake water!"

Lydia smiled sweetly at him, "That's because it is."

"Why are you giving me this?" Stiles asked, looking slightly horrified.

"Because you need to drink it," Lydia replied, handing another glass to Kaede. "This will allow us to see the 'Rage of the Sea' tonight. The water's been disinfected, so it won't hurt you."

"Everyone needs to drink at least half a glass," Kaori added. "Once we drink the water, we will be able to see the kami for at least eight hours."

Danny look askance at the half-empty glass that Kaede handed to him, sighed and then downed the contents in one gulp, grimacing at the taste. "That is nasty!" he exclaimed.

Some of the others who had been holding back drank the water, following Danny's example, and began eliciting a soft chorus of disapproving sounds once the water was swallowed.

"We have about an hour before it gets dark, which will be our best chance to deal with the kami," Shiro said. "Everyone must be prepared by then. We cannot afford to make any mistakes."

Lydia cleared away the empty glasses, and Allison spread out a map of the lake and surrounding areas on the coffee table. Everyone gathered around, making suggestions, pointing at different areas of the lake, and listening as Shiro, Ayame, and most importantly Kaori, spoke about what they could expect, where everyone needed to be, and what everyone's role was. 

Mori looked at her new friends nervously. They all seemed so eager, and they did not seem to fully appreciate how dangerous the situation was. Even the Night Flowers seemed to taking it all in stride, although for them, this was just another assignment like the hundreds of other assignments they had all been sent on. She sighed, realizing most of her worry was about the werewolves and the two humans who did not have any special abilities that were part of the group. If all of the wolves were as powerful as Derek, perhaps she would not have worried so much, even though she had to admit that the Betas were quite strong in their own right. Allison had been training for much of her life to become a hunter, even if she hadn't known that's what her parents were doing. But, she did not have the strength or speed of the others. And then, there was Danny. Like Allison, Danny was human, only without the training. He didn't even know about this world of werewolves, Spirit Walkers, and Night Flowers until they first left for their trip. Of them all, he was probably the most vulnerable.

She watched Stiles for a moment, all animated gestures and ridiculous facial expressions. So much of the night's success depended on an untried, untrained teenage boy. True, of all of them, he just might end up being the most powerful, but he needed to survive the night first. They all needed to survive the night first.

Mori was pulled from her reverie by the squeaking of a permanent marker being used on the map.

'This is where the circle is," Kaede was saying. He drew a small "x" to one side of it. "And, this is where Stiles will be."

* * *

Danny stood at the edge of the lake, looking nervously out over the water. He knew he wasn't alone. Kaede and Allison were behind him, hidden in the bushes. But, he couldn't see them, and it was dark, and he knew there was a "Rage of the Sea" out there, just waiting. As he held the blade of the knife against the palm of his hand, he couldn't think of another time in his life when he had felt more alone.

Besides Allison, he was the only one in the group that was just simply human. As someone who was "simply human," they all decided that he would make the best bait. No mystical energy to distract the kami or scare it off. There was no way to really predict what the kami would do, except that it would kill again. It was only a guess, but their thinking was that blood from a self-inflicted wound, dripped into the water, would be just reminiscent enough of the original suicide that formed the "Rage of the Sea" to draw it out. Once it appeared, it would most likely go after the person the blood belonged to. If the kami did appear, Danny was supposed to run. He could do that. He could totally do that. He was good at that. 

He looked down at the knife. How did he end up here? A week ago, he was just a normal kid, well as normal as a kid could be after all of the deaths. After his best friend just took off like that. Not to mention getting paralyzed at the club, which he now knew was the fault of said best friend, or Matt actually, depending on how you wanted to look at it. He guessed his life had actually been pretty weird for a while. He could feel it; he knew something strange was going on. Only, now he _knew_. Now, he had a name for it. Now, he was literally about to make himself bleed in order to get one of those crazy monsters to come chasing after him. Apparently, this was his life now.

Danny sucked air in through his teeth as the cold metal bit into the fleshy part of his palm. Fat drops of blood, black in the moonlight, dripped into the water as he held his hand out. Unsure of how much blood he would have to let drip to get the attention of the kami, he kept his hand out, hoping that if the "Rage of the Sea" was going to show up, that it showed up before he started getting woozy. Blinking a couple of times, he tried to focus on the water, not really knowing what he was looking for since he had never seen a kami before. He just hoped the lake water they made him drink actually did what they said it was supposed to do.

Allison had her bow drawn, alert for any kind of movement. Kaede was next to her, acting as backup for both her and Danny. 

"Remember, do not try to kill it when you see it," Kaede whispered. 

"I know," Allison whispered back. "Just keep an eye out and let me know if you see anything."

Kaori had explained to them that the Kami would have to take physical form to hurt Danny, most likely the form of the person who had killed themselves in the lake. Even then, they would not be able to do any permanent damage to it. Should anyone deliver a fatal blow when the kami was in that form, it would simply disintegrate into water and reappear free of injury. Allison was there to slow it down, not to kill it.

Danny watched the lake nervously, a bead of sweat making its irritating way down his face. Quickly wiping it away with his free hand, he blinked furiously, afraid to take his eyes off of the lake for even a second. He squinted when he noticed a soft glow that seemed to be coming from beneath the water's surface about twenty feet from where he stood. Everything had gone silent, the air completely still. There was a ripple above the glow, and as something began to rise from the water, he could feel a prickling at the back of his neck, a cold, bony finger of a caress down his spine.

He had been expecting something ghost-like, incorporeal, but this had weight, it had substance, the water moved in its wake as it slowly made its way towards him. First was the head, long stringy hair, missing in patches, framing a half-rotted face, all of it emitting a pale blue-green glow. Instead of eyes, two empty sockets, ruined holes that zeroed in on where Danny stood. He gasped, taking a step back, not sure if he should start running even though he desperately wanted to.

The kami continued to move towards him, revealing a body sheathed in a tattered, wet, clingy white dress that stuck to the creature's emaciated and ghoulish form. The kami appeared to be female, and as her mouth worked soundlessly, Danny had to stop himself from screaming. The thing emerging from the lake looked more zombie than spirit, and he fought to suppress visions of corpses trying to eat his brain.

Before he even had time to register what was happening, there was a high-pitched whistle, followed by a soft thud and an arrow sprouting from the kami's arm. Swallowing, Danny remembered that this was the signal for him to start running, which he really wanted to do, even if it meant turning his back on a creature that had already killed dozens of people. He had to trust that Allison and Kaede would make sure that he was okay.

Besides Kaede and Stiles, anyone that would give off some kind of mystical energy that the kami might pick up on had been hidden away, waiting for the moment when their particular skills would be needed. Kaede was using his ability as a Spirit Walker to disguise his and Allison's presence from the kami, and Stiles was waiting at the circle, hopefully doing the same.

Danny started running down the path that the others had prepared for him earlier. They had removed any debris that might trip him up, and carefully marked it so that even he, with his regular human eyes, could easily follow it in the moonlight. He didn't hear the kami chasing him, but he did have the strange sensation that there was a force tugging at him, like the pull of a magnet. Or the moon pulling at the tides.

Allison sighted down the length of her arrow. The kami had stopped moving when Danny started running. But suddenly, it was gone.

"Where'd it go?!" Allison hissed in frustration. 

Kaori had coated Allison's arrows with "Shroud of the Living," which was supposed to bind kamis to the physical realm. Allison thought it was odd, since the whole problem seemed to be that the kami was already bound to the physical realm, but Kaori's hope was that the powder would prevent the kami from disappearing in the way that it apparently just did. As with most of what they were doing, using the powder was an educated guess. 

They heard a yell and turned to see that Danny had fallen to the ground. The kami had reappeared directly in front of him and was reaching for him with its bony fingers. Strangely enough, it still had the arrow in its arm. Allison swiveled her body, took aim, and let another arrow fly. This time, the arrow embedded itself in the creature's thigh, causing it to stumble. Danny scrambled to his feet, and started running again. Allison quickly notched another arrow in her bow, pulled and released, this time hitting the kami in the stomach. The kami took a few halting steps, stopped, then followed after Danny, going faster than either Allison or Kaede expected. But this time, it did not disappear. Perhaps the powder was working after all.

Kaede and Allison followed after them, Allison drawing another arrow just in case the kami got too close to Danny. The circle wasn't far, and once Danny made it to Stiles, they hoped he would be in the clear. The path curved, and Danny disappeared behind some trees, the kami following quickly after him. 

Stiles looked up when he heard rustling. He was sitting in the middle a clearing, by himself in the moonlight, bouncing slightly as he tried to stave off the knot of anxiety that was tightening around his chest. Derek was directly behind him. He knew that. Derek told him that was where he would be. With his newfound abilities as a Spirit Walker, he might even be able to test that assumption, given enough time and patience. But, now was not the time to indulge such whims. Danny needed him. They all needed him.

Danny burst into the clearing, saw Stiles, and bolted for him. Their eyes met as Danny literally scrambled for his life, and Stiles screwed up his face, pouring as much energy as possible into the shield that Kaede taught him how to make in order to disguise his presence from the kami. Danny was sprinting, with the kami hot on his trial. It didn't look anything like what Stiles was expecting. He thought maybe it would be some kind of nymph or water sprite, translucent maybe. This was more like something from _Dawn of the Dead_. It _was_ glowing blue, though. 

Danny was looking panicked, like he was going to keep running until he could duck behind Stiles. Stiles threw out a hand, silently and desperately urging Danny to wait and remember the plan. Danny came to an abrupt halt in front of him, and spun around to face the horror.

The kami paused when it entered the clearing. Stiles wasn't sure if it was because Danny stopped, or because it sensed something. Stiles poured more of himself into the shield. The kami took a step forward, then another, its movements becoming more and more purposeful. It stopped right before the far edge of the circle, a thin line of "Will of the Buddha" combined with "Curtain of Impenetrable Light," a fine white dust made of powdered crystal that would both channel and amplify mystical power.

 _Step over the line!_ Stiles screamed in his mind. _Just step over the line!_

Allison sighted down the shaft of her arrow and released. The force of the arrow hitting the kami's shoulder caused it to stumble, forcing it to take that last fateful step into the circle. 

Stiles slammed the palms of his hands down on the line, screaming, "Get out of the circle, Danny! Get out of the circle, now!"

Danny dove to the side as Stiles shunted his power from the shield to the circle, the powder flaring to life as a wall of light shot up from the ground. Danny's body passed harmlessly through it. The kami saw Stiles now, and it flashed forward, faster than Stiles' eyes could follow, swiping at him with fingers curled into claws. Stiles tried not to flinch; in theory, the "Curtain of Impenetrable Light" should keep him safe. The kami's hand glanced off the wall of light like a rubber ball hitting a car's windshield.

The wall held, but Stiles felt the kami's strike like a hard-packed snowball to the throat. He gasped and gagged at the same time, lurching forward and losing his concentration. The wall flickered. Focusing, he concentrated on making the wall stronger, and the kami lashed out at him again, this time with an angry gurgling hiss.

"Guhhh…" Stiles moaned in pain, lurching forward again. It felt like a baseball pitcher had just fired off an ice cube at the back of his head. He furiously blinked away his tunneling vision and the image of a dead baby in his arms. His body felt like he had just gotten into horrific traffic accident, like he had just been wrestling a bear, like he had been holding the wall for days, when at most a single second had passed.

"Somebody help me!" he screamed desperately, not caring that his voice was laced with fear, not caring that tears were building up at the corners of his eyes.

Kaede appeared suddenly on the opposite side of the circle, slamming his own hands down onto the line of powder, adding his own strength to Stiles'. As the added power coursed its way down the line, the sensation that Stiles got was like burrowing into a nest of warm blankets, chasing away the deadly chills that the kami sought to inflict upon him. Derek was behind him not a second later, kneeling with his hand on Stiles' back.

"I'm here, Stiles," he whispered into Stiles' ear.

Stiles nodded silently, keeping his eyes on the "Rage of the Sea." Derek was leaching his pain away. The other werewolves and the Night Flowers had followed him into the clearing. Scott joined Derek, placing a hand on Stiles' shoulder, and Derek turned to Erica, Isaac and Boyd, sending them to Kaede with a jerk of his head. They would help Kaede maintain the barrier, just as Derek and Scott would be helping Stiles. 

All of the rest of the Night Flowers, including Lydia, arranged themselves into a circle, each of them standing at regular intervals outside of the barrier. The "Rage of the Sea" slowly turned to look at them, ceasing its attack on the wall when it realized it was being surrounded. The Night Flowers took up fighting stances and began moving their hands in complex patterns, purple light trailing after their fingers as they moved through the air. Some were runes of binding, others runes of release, runes of repulsion and runes to soothe, the energies sifting into and around each other as they tried to maneuver the kami away from the wall to the center of the circle, and separate the kami from the dark energies that had woven themselves into its core. Lydia had studied furiously to learn the forms, her brain setting to memory what it would have taken others months to learn. Stiles would have smiled at her proudly if not for the insanely angry spirit he was trying to keep under control.

The kami shrieked now, sounding like an angry and terrified woman. It shook its right arm into a long, snakelike whip of water and lashed out at Kasumi. The wall prevented the whip from hitting her, but Kasumi dropped to the floor, her body still with unseeing eyes open to the sky.

Derek felt Stiles shudder and gasp beneath him, and through their connection, caught a glimpse of a young woman, slowly wading out into the lake. He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on leaching out any pain that Stiles might be feeling, not knowing how much it was helping, but not knowing what else he could do.

The Night Flowers closed ranks to compensate for Kasumi's loss. There would be time for mourning later. The kami turned and lashed out again, this time striking at Tadashi. He too dropped to the floor, and Derek could feel the tremors wrack through Stiles' body. Stiles gasped at the feeling of ice water coursing through his veins, the concerted efforts of an Alpha and a Beta werewolf like a campfire standing against a tidal wave. He squeezed his eyes in frustration, tears streaming down his face. 

The kami lashed out again, and Kazuki dropped to the floor. Stiles shook his head, weeping now. "It's not working!" he gasped out. "We're losing! Kaori was wrong! We're not helping; we're not making a difference! We're all gonna die!"

"Listen to me, Stiles!" Derek said. "You can do this!"

Stiles shook his head, desperately trying to make Derek understand. "I don't know how much longer I can hold on!" he sobbed.

Stiles screamed as the kami's whip hit the wall again and Mori's father fell.

"I can feel it!" Stiles said, "She's so angry! She has too much pain. She's been in this form for too long, trapped here for too long. You have to do it, Derek! You and the other werewolves!"

"We're not strong enough!" Derek argued. "I can't even stop it from hurting you!"

"You have the ability," Stiles grunted out, looking into Derek's eyes now. "I have the strength. We can do this."

Derek released the breath he didn't know he was holding, nodded grimly, then looked out over the circle and roared, an Alpha calling to his pack. He leapt into the circle, tackling the kami to the ground with his outstretched arms. Erica, Isaac and Boyd were with him a second later. 

"Get me there, Scott," Stiles whimpered, feeling like he was about to collapse.

Scott hesitated for a moment, but quickly gathered Stiles up into his arms and brought him to the pack in a single leap. This time, it was Stiles who had his hands on Derek's back, pouring his energy into Derek as Derek pulled the pain out of the kami. All around them, the Night Flowers continued to work furiously, purple streaks of light flying through the air that only Stiles and Kaede could see. Realizing what they were doing, Kaede quickly joined the pack, placing one hand on Boyd, and the other on Erica, shunting his power into them.

As black veins traced their way up all of the werewolves' arms, the kami continued to struggle. The wolves kept all of their weight on its apparently solid form, as it grunted and yelled and sobbed, sounding more and more like the young mother with the dead baby that Stiles and Derek had seen in their visions. Her body was cold and wet, and surprisingly strong, but the werewolves were somehow able to prevent her from rising. Finally, with a single earsplitting shriek that sent the werewolves scurrying with their hands over their ears, the kami burst into a fountain of blue light as a wave of cold wet hatred washed over them and dissipated into the night.

Everyone went still as the final sounds of their battle echoed around them. Scott helped Stiles to his feet, weak and wobbly, but alive. They looked at each other and smiled, both laughing as they hugged.

"We did it!" Stiles yelled. "We totally did it!"

" _You_ did it," Scott said, clapping Stiles on the arm.

"Derek?" Stiles exclaimed. "Derek! We did it!" Stiles spun around. "Where's Derek?"

"Stiles," Scott said, his face serious as he looked at one of the bodies on the ground.

"Hey, Derek!" Stiles said, running to Derek's side. "We did it, Derek! You were amazing!"

He knelt by Derek's side, but Derek wasn’t moving. "Derek? Are you okay?"

"Derek, get up," he said as he pulled at Derek's arms, trying to help him get to his feet, but Derek remained limp.

"Why aren't you getting up?" Stiles asked, his voice cracking with worry. "Come on, get up!" 

Stiles tired to lift Derek's torso off the ground, but Derek's head lolled back. Stiles lowered him back down, panicking now.

"Derek!" Stiles yelled, tears running down his face. He patted Derek on the cheek. "Derek!"

"Stiles," Scott whispered, putting a hand on Stiles' shoulder. "His heart's not beating."

Stiles shook Scotts hand off and wiped angrily at his tears. "I can fix him," Stiles said, his face set in grim determination. "I can fix him! He's gonna be all right! Kaede!" Stiles screamed desperately, his voice hoarse, turning to look for the other Spirit Walker. "Kaede, I need your help!"

He saw Kaede then, kneeling over the body of his sister, holding one of her hands up to his cheek as he wept. Stiles' face fell, and he turned back to Derek. 

Grabbing onto Derek, Stiles whimpered, "No." Stiles started shaking him, pleading, knowing in the pit of his stomach that if he could only beg hard enough, the universe would relent, and everything would be fine, "No. No. No! No! You can't do this to me! Derek! Derek! Please, don't leave me, Derek! Please! Oh my God! Derek!"


	6. Between Worlds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles could feel the ominous cloud of a panic attack looming at the borders of his vision. His breath was coming short and shallow, his head dizzy as the world started to spin. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. There was no way he was going to allow the injustice of a world without Derek Hale in it to happen. He didn't want to live in a world like that. He couldn't live in a world like that.

Mori opened her eyes slowly. Her thoughts were flowing like molasses and her body ached like she had just fallen off of a cliff. She coughed, the taste of lake water on her lips, and rolled over so she could try to push herself to her feet.

Rubbing her face with her hands, trying to clear her vision, she took a steadying breath. Everything had gone still, the only noise the slight rustling that her friends were making as they picked themselves up off the ground. The "Rage of the Sea" was gone. She didn't know how she knew that, but she could feel it in her gut, in that deep part of herself that always drew her to the mystical and the strange. Whatever they did, they had managed to banish it somehow back to the spirit world. It wouldn't be able to kill people at the lake anymore.

She coughed again, and rested her forehead on the ground, willing her body to heal itself. Remembering suddenly the last moments of the battle, she snapped her head up to find her father. Her mother and Sayuri were already kneeling at his too-still body, her mother weeping as she gently rocked back and forth. She ran to them, all but collapsing at her father's side.

"Father!" she cried out. "Is he hurt?"

Kaori looked up at her with a tear-streaked face. "He is dead, Mori."

"No!" Mori gasped, her tears flowing now. "We have to do something! Perhaps one of the powders at the house? We can prepare something for him! We can…"

Her mother grabbed her wrist, gentle but restraining. "There is nothing we can do for him, now."

Mori shook her head and let her tears fall. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. They had Spirit Walkers! The Spirit Walkers were supposed to protect them! She looked up and saw Kaede kneeling over Kasumi, then turned and found Stiles screaming over Derek's unmoving body.

Stiles could feel the ominous cloud of a panic attack looming at the borders of his vision. His breath was coming short and shallow, his head dizzy as the world started to spin. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. There was no way he was going to allow the injustice of a world without Derek Hale in it to happen. He didn't want to live in a world like that. He couldn't live in a world like that.

Blinking rapidly, he wiped furiously at his tears and forced himself to take a deep, long breath. "Help me, Scott," he said, voice hard with determination.

"What?" Scott asked, not really hearing him.

"Help me!" Stiles repeated, angry now, giving Scott a look that Scott had never seen Stiles make in his entire life.

Scott knelt down in front of him. "Anything," he said, gently. "Anything you need, Stiles." 

The rest of the pack had gathered by then and were watching uncomfortably.

"Help me carry Derek over to Kaede," Stiles said.

Scott nodded, and lifted Derek over his shoulder, not sure why Stiles was asking this of him, but too afraid to argue with Stiles at the moment.

Seeing that Scott had Derek securely in his grasp, Stiles started to run towards Kaede. "Come on!" Stiles yelled. "We need to hurry!"

It took maybe a second tops to get Derek's body over to Kaede. Stiles gestured at the empty space next to Kasumi's body, and Scott lay Derek gently down. Stiles knelt down next to Derek and looked up at Kaede, who was still holding his sister's hand against his cheek. 

"Kaede!" Stiles said.

Kaede didn't look up at the sound of his name. Scott pressed his lips together, worried at how Stiles would react. 

"Kaede!" Stiles yelled louder.

Kaede looked up this time, but it took a moment for him to register that he was aware of who he was looking at.

Stiles leveled a steely look at him. "We need to do something. We can't just let them die."

"What can we do?" asked Kaede. "They are gone."

"No!" Stiles yelled, flinching slightly when it came out a bit more sharply than he had intended. "They are strong. They heal quickly. We are Spirit Walkers. You said that the Spirit Walker in Russia was a healer, that she once brought someone back from the brink of death!"

Kaede looked surprised at that, then looked at Derek and Kasumi, then gave a sweeping glance at the others around him, taking in Shiro, Tadashi and his brother Kazuki's unmoving forms. He looked down at his sister again. "I do not know how. Even if I did, they are too many. How can we save them?"

Stiles shook his head and slammed his fists into his temples. "We're running out of time! We have to do something!" 

He looked down at Derek, eyes moving back and forth in crazy desperation. With a primal, guttural roar of rage and a stubborn refusal to accept reality, he shoved his palms against Derek's chest. His eyes flared to life, white hot, so bright that even Danny and Allison were able to see it without the help of magic powders. He screamed until his voice gave out, pouring every last bit of himself into Derek, until it seemed that light was even coming out of Derek's own mouth and eyes. But, it wasn't enough. Stiles pushed and pushed, but he had nothing left to give. But, he kept on giving it until the world went dark, and there was nothing left to feel.

 

* * *

 

Stiles' eyes fluttered open. He was in a white room. It wasn't a room so much as it was a white space. He couldn't figure out where the walls were. 

He blinked a few times, slowly. It was calm there. Relaxing. Even the air smelled sweet, somehow. Everything was bright. Too bright. But, it wasn't the kind of brightness that forced him to squint. The air was warm. It was quiet. He was alone. For some reason, that didn't seem to bother him. He stood.

He noticed a dark speck in the distance. Seeing nothing else of interest, he started to walk towards it. Almost as soon as he made that decision, he found himself there, standing at the center of five human bodies arranged into a sort of star, all of them floating face-up about waist high, with their heads nearest to him, and their feet pointing away. One of them was Derek. 

Stiles smiled fondly at him, and moved to stand by his side. He placed his hands on Derek's cheeks, and leaned down to kiss him. His lips were warm and soft. Not cold, like he remembered them being the last time he saw him.

Cold?

Stiles looked up at the other bodies, his breath catching. Kasumi, Kazuki, Tadashi and Shiro. Looking down at Derek again, he remembered. These were the five that died.

When he realized that, his mind flashed back to the last thing he remembered: kneeling over Derek with his hands on Derek's chest. He had lost consciousness shortly after that, after pushing every last shred of mystical energy he had in him into Derek's lifeless body. But, he found himself back there now, seeing it all even if we was no longer a participant.

"Stiles!" Scott screamed, both of his arms wrapped around his best friend. "Oh my God! Somebody help me! I think he's dying!"

Allison and the rest of the pack were at his side at once. 

"What happened?" asked Allison.

"I don’t know!" Scott said, frantically. "I think he was trying to bring Derek back to life or something."

Allison turned to Kaede now, who had his hands on Kasumi's chest, his eyes glowing white much like Stiles' had been just moments before.

"Kaede! No!" Allison yelled, reaching out for him. She jerked her hand back when she made contact with his arm, the mystical energies shocking her like a live wire.

Stiles flashed back to the white space. 

"He's trying to save her," he said out loud to no one. 

He looked down at Derek, but looked up again when he felt another presence nearby. Kaede was now standing at the center of the star.

"Kaede!" Stiles said, happy to see his friend again. But, Kaede walked to his sister, as if Stiles had said nothing.

"Kaede?" Stiles said again. He walked up to Kaede and put a hand on his shoulder, or tried to anyway. His hand passed through Kaede as if he were nothing more than an illusion.

Stiles blinked a few times in surprise, but that was the extent of his reaction. Things just didn't seem all that shocking right now.

"He can't hear you," he heard a woman's voice say.

Stiles cocked his head to the side. "Mom?" He turned to see a woman standing behind him. She was smiling.

"Mom?" Stiles said, more of a statement than a question. "What are you doing here? What is this place?" He had the passing thought that he should be more excited to see her, but his emotions didn’t seem to change that much in the white room.

Her smiled broadened and she approached with her arms open wide. Stiles smiled back at her and wrapped his arms around her, leaning into the hug. He breathed in her familiar scent, lemons and vanilla, a scent that would always be familiar, no matter how much time passed.

"This is the world between worlds," she said, her voice just like he remembered. "I knew you would come here, so I came, too."

Stiles stepped back, and glanced at Kaede, who was standing stone-faced over his sister. "Why can't he see me?" Stiles asked.

"You're stronger than he is," she answered. 

"What am _I_ doing here?" Stiles asked, turning back to his mother.

"You came here to save them," she answered, gesturing at the five people that formed the star.

He noticed now what seemed to be a thread made of blue light coming from the back of each of their heads. The threads joined together at the center of the star, and then plunged down into the floor, although there was really no floor to speak of, so the threads just seemed to go down forever. It didn't occur to Stiles to ask what they were standing on.

"What are those?" he asked, pointing to the threads.

"They are part of the water spirit that you banished from your world. It is still trying to draw them in," she said.

He looked back at her. "What's stopping it?"

"You," she said smiling at him.

His brow furrowed. "I am?"

She nodded. "Yes. Your presence here is preventing them from moving on from this place."

He frowned, now. "But, I can't stay here forever." He knew that somehow. He didn’t' know how he knew, but he did.

She shook her head. "No."

"But, I can save them?" 

"You can save one," she said. "Even you are not strong enough to save them all."

"Then, I want to save Derek," he replied immediately. "I have to save Derek. How do I save him?"

"You have to take his place," she answered, tipping her head down and eyeing him seriously, a look that told him he needed to think before he acted.

Stiles blinked a few times, then nodded slowly. He didn't have a choice. His heart would allow for no other choice. He went to stand next to Derek again, kissing him again, wishing that Derek would just open his eyes and look at him.

"What do I have to do?" he asked.

"You have to take his place," his mother repeated, gently.

Stiles thought for a moment, and nodded. He felt the back of Derek's head, feeling the pulsing, wet, cold rage that formed the blue thread. Pinching it between his thumb and forefinger, he pulled, and it came away as if it were attached with nothing more than smoke. Holding it up to the back of his head, he pressed in into base of his skull, and the world went black.

 

* * *

 

Derek sat up suddenly, coughing and sputtering, scaring everyone. "What happened?" he asked.

Erica was at his side at once with an arm around his back. "Derek! Are you okay? We thought you were dead. Stiles was trying to save you, but then he passed out."

He shook his head. "What? Where is he?" 

He pushed himself off the ground, not really seeing anything. Managing to stand, he took a wobbly step and would've fallen again if Erica hadn't been there to grab him. He noticed suddenly that Scott had been sitting next to him, holding Stiles, and Derek dropped down again, his hands hovering over Stiles' body.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "What's wrong with him? Was he injured in the fight?"

Scott sniffed, and wiped a hand across his face. "No. He was fine after the kami went away, but we all thought you were dead, and Stiles just kind of lost it, you know?" Scott looked pleadingly into Derek's eyes. "I don't know what to do. He was trying to save you, but then he just passed out, and he won't wake up."

Derek gently placed a hand on Stiles' cheek. "Stiles?" he said, softly. His eyes tightened when there was no response. "Give him to me," he ordered Scott. 

Scott hesitated for a moment, unwilling to let his best friend go, but he remembered who Derek was to Stiles now, and lifted Stiles' limp body into Derek's arms. Derek's face was stricken as he cradled Stiles like a baby against himself. He squinted, looking up and finding the Tanakas all hovering around Shiro's body. He staggered over to them.

"Mori?" he said softly.

"Derek!" Mori said, beaming at him. "He's breathing again! They all are!"

Derek looked down at Stiles. He was so light, his face so peaceful. What had he done?

"Stiles won't wake up," he said, desperately. "Do you have anything that can help him?"

Mori looked to her mother, who was crouched down next to her father's unmoving form, then looked back to Derek. 

"We will try," she said. 

Gently lifting her father over her shoulder, she followed as Derek led her, Scott, Allison, and Danny to the cabin. Kaori watched as Mori carried Shiro away. Ayame touched her lightly on the shoulder.

"Go with your husband, Kaori," Ayame said. "I will make sure everyone makes it back."

Kaori nodded absently, and followed after them.

"We need to get everyone back to the cabin!" Ayame barked, as she lifted Tadashi over one shoulder. "Sayuri, please carry Kasumi." She turned to look at the werewolves. "I cannot issue orders to you, but I would be grateful if you would help us to carry our injured people."

"No problem," Boyd said, lifting Kazuki to one shoulder. 

Isaac grabbed Kaede and they all made their way back to the cabin, with Erica and Lydia trailing behind to watch their backs. When they arrived, they saw that the others had turned the living room into a makeshift clinic. All of the furniture had been cleared away, and they had made pallets on the floor with blankets, six in all, in two rows of three.

Stiles and Shiro had already been laid on the two pallets furthest from the door. They deposited the rest on the remainder. Everyone stood silently around the room, watching the six people on the floor. Realizing she was chewing her thumbnail, something she hadn’t done since she was a child, Lydia quickly pulled her hand away from her mouth, and put it behind her back.

"Shouldn't we be doing something?" she asked softly.

"Yes," Kaori answered, though she was staring vacantly into the center of the room. "Lydia, Mori, please join me in the kitchen." 

She turned and walked away without looking at anyone. Lydia and Mori met each other's eyes and then quietly followed. Ayame locked eyes with Sayuri, and with a quick jerk of her head, they went into the kitchen as well.

Derek had been standing over Stiles since he laid him down on the pallet, staring down at him like a silent statue of grief. Erica approached him slowly and cautiously reached out for his hand.

"Do you want me to bring you some blankets so you can lie down next to him?" she whispered.

Derek turned to her, his words catching in his throat, though he did manage to give an almost imperceptible nod. Erica nodded back and disappeared down the hallway. She came back with a comforter and a pillow in her arms, arranging them next to Stiles. Holding onto Derek's hand again, she gingerly guided him to lie down next to Stiles, where he buried his face in the crook of Stiles' neck, put an arm around Stiles' waist, and then went still.

Allison grabbed one of Scott's arms and curled into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the temple. 

"Hey," he said, addressing Erica, Isaac, Boyd and Danny. "It's late and you're tired. Why don't you try to get some rest? You can take our room, Danny. We'll let you know if anything changes."

Erica sniffed and nodded, turning to walk back down the hall. Isaac, Danny and Boyd hesitated for a bit, but eventually followed her. Scott and Allison stood for a while, Scott gently rocking her.

"What are we gonna tell his dad, Scott?" Allison asked. "What if we can't save him? What are we gonna say?"

"We'll save him," Scott replied, more to reassure himself than to reassure her. "They'll figure something out."

* * *

Mori tilted her father's chin up, and carefully dripped the contents of a small bowl into his mouth. It was a brown liquid that she and her mother had concocted to make sure that Shiro and the others got the nutrients they needed while they remained unconscious. It had been two days since the battle with the kami, and they were beginning to run out powders. She turned her head to look at Derek, who was trying to feed Stiles in the same way.

Derek had been quiet for those last two days, even more so than usual. The others had tried to draw him out with questions or suggestions to do things, but they had all been rebuffed with grunts or one-word answers. He ran a hand through Stiles hair, soft and chocolate brown. Stiles had stopped cutting it about a month before school had gotten out for the summer. Mori had seen Derek curiously run his fingers through it a few times since then, but it was painful to watch now. Derek placed his hand against Stiles' face and caressed his cheek with his thumb. The big wolf's face was easy to read, so different from his usual stoic demeanor. There was pain there, and fear. Regret. He was carrying a secret that he had never shared with anyone. If she was reading him right, he hadn't even shared it with Stiles.

Mori blinked away a tear, and moved to Kaede, tipping back his chin, and pouring some liquid into his mouth. Then, she went to the last person in the line, Tadashi, and gave him the last of the liquid in the bowl. Getting up, she saw that Derek had not yet moved on from Stiles, but she went into the kitchen, trusting that he would take care of Kasumi and Kazuki eventually.

She rinsed the bowl out in the sink and put in the dish rack. Her mother was staring at her collection of vials, as if she believed that staring hard enough would force some kind of answer to magically appear.

"I do not know what to do," Kaori said, shaking her head slowly at the vials.

"I am surprised there has not been word yet from Japan," Mori replied.

Kaori looked up at her then. "This has never happened before. We have no records, no way to test anything. I doubt very much they will find an answer for us."

Mori placed a hand over her mother's. "Then all we can do is wait. Whatever is happening to them, Stiles and Kaede are with them. Something happened when Derek came back. They are breathing. They are alive. There is hope."

Kaori nodded and smiled, a tear tracing down her cheek. "Thank you, daughter," she said, bringing Mori's hand up to her cheek and squeezing her eyes shut. "You are right. There is hope."

Derek entered the kitchen, then and placed his bowl in the sink. He blinked at them a few times before leaving again.

"He reminds me of your father," Kaori said, after he we gone.

"Oh?" Mori asked, surprised.

Kaori leaned forward with her elbows on the counter and looked down with a knowing smile. "Once, before you were born, I was injured while on an assignment. I had been poisoned, somehow. I did not wake up for three days. Your father nursed me back to health. He never told me how scared he was during that time, but I could see it in his eyes, each time I left for another assignment after that."

"You never told me about that," Mori replied with a bit of awe in her voice.

Kaori reached out and carded a hand through her daughter's hair. "I have seen too many things to tell you about them all." She smiled sadly. "It seems to me that Derek truly loves this Stiles."

Mori nodded slowly, "That is why we formed the alliance with them." She paused, tilting her head down. "I do not get to interact with people in a normal way very much. Of course, no one would say that my work with the wolf pack is normal. The only relationship I have to compare theirs to is you and father." She sighed. 

"That is the price we pay as Night Flowers,” her mother said softly, “to always be on the outside, even though we know more than most people ever will.”

Mori nodded. “Though my experience is limited, I have to say that I have never seen someone as devoted to another human being as Derek is to Stiles."

"And, in your opinion, what does Stiles feel for Derek?" Kaori asked.

"Stiles loves Derek, there is no doubt about that," Mori said. "But, during all of the times I have observed them together, Stiles' feelings towards Derek never had the same desperate quality of Derek's feelings towards Stiles." She turned to look at the kitchen door, imagining the six people lying on the floor in the living room. "But, I have a feeling that seeing Derek dead may change that somewhat."

"Well, if it was not for Stiles, we would be mourning our dead instead of caring for our injured," Kaori said. "At least his love was strong enough for that."

"Yes," Mori agreed, raising her hand to her mouth to cover a yawn. "Mother, I think I need to lie down for a bit."

"Rest well, my daughter. May the shadows keep you" Kaori said.

Mori tipped her head down in acknowledgement. "May the shadows keep you," she responded, and left the kitchen.

 

* * *

 

Stiles blinked slowly, feeling like he had just had the longest sleep of his life. It was dark, and he could feel Derek's arm lying heavy across his waist. Derek's face was buried in his neck, the way he liked to do whenever they slept together. He tried to lift his hand to run his fingers through Derek's hair, but groaned instead, the pain catching him off guard. Derek was awake immediately.

"Stiles?!" Derek said, sitting up, his hands cradling Stiles' head.

"Derek," Stiles croaked out, his throat and voice weak from lack of use.

"Oh my God! You're awake!" Derek hugged him then, a little too tightly, lifting his body off the pallet a little.

Stiles coughed, and Derek immediately released him, lowering him gently back down. "Sorry," Derek said, but Stiles just smiled.

"I'm happy to see you, too," Stiles said, his voice sounding like sandpaper on wood.

Suddenly, a black shape rammed into Derek, throwing him into the wall. Stiles' eyes went wide at the sight of Kazuki looming over him with glowing blue eyes. Kazuki reached down, wrapping his fingers around Stiles' neck.

Someone flicked the living room lights on and the occupants of the cabin came flooding in.

"What was that?!" screamed Erica. Seeing Kazuki strangling Stiles, she yelled, "Get off him!" and launched herself into the much larger man, knocking him to the side. 

Stiles coughed harshly, gasping for air. Scott, Lydia and Allison were immediately next to him hovering protectively. Isaac and Boyd leaped over them to help Erica keep Kazuki down, as Mori helped Derek to his feet. 

"What's going on in here?" asked Ayame, angrily. "Kazuki! Explain yourself!"

Instead of answering, he continued to struggle, but all eyes went immediately to Kasumi when she sat up, her eyes emitting the same blue glow.

She leaped at Stiles, her intentions made clear by her outstretched arms. With barely a thought, Sayuri spun, her leg flashing out as she kicked Kasumi out of the air. Kasumi slammed into the far wall, but rose from the ground seemingly unfazed. Rather than let her attack again, Sayuri ran towards her, bringing the fight away from where Stiles lay.

"I do not understand," Ayame said. "This is madness!"

Tadashi was up now, advancing on where they stood. Mori narrowed her eyes at him. The light coming from his eyes was the same color as the light that had come from the "Rage of the Sea." 

"Stop!" she yelled, drawing one of the many knives she always kept on her person. "You cannot win here! You are outnumbered!"

Tadashi smiled wickedly, flicking out his arm as it became encased in water. On the downward stroke of his arm, the water lengthened into a whip, undulating like a snake made of crystal. 

"We do not fear you," he said. "We have come to claim what is ours."

With a flick of her wrist, Mori let the knife fly. Tadashi didn't seem to notice when the blade buried itself to the hilt in his thigh. As he drew his arm back to slash at them with the water whip, there was a deafening roar, and the blur of a body. The water from the whip splashed harmlessly to the floor as Tadashi sputtered blood, his hand reaching up to the ruins of his mangled throat. Derek was standing next to him, glaring, his claws covered in gore.

The glow faded from Tadashi's eyes, and he reached out with his free had towards Ayame, mouthing silently. Ayame let out an earsplitting shriek as he began to fall. She was at his side at once, catching him before he could collapse to the floor. She sat down clumsily with him in his arms.

"Tadashi!" she screamed, anguished. 

Kaori had settled herself by her husband's side, one of the knives that her family was so known for in her hand. When his eyes opened with the same blue glow, she quickly and skillfully slid the knife between his ribs, finding his heart. As the glow faded, she whispered, "I love you, husband."

Mori turned at the sound of that, and saw her mother's hand on the handle of the knife, her head bent down with tears in her eyes. Sayuri yelped, Kasumi getting the better of her, and Mori turned her attention back to battle raging in the living room. Kazuki had managed to get out from under the wolves, but they had him up against a corner, and it looked like they would be able to handle him for at least a little while longer.

"What's going on in here?" asked Danny, as he stumbled bleary eyed into the living room. 

Scott locked eyes with Allison, and Allison nodded, rising and rushing into Danny, pushing him back into the hallway. Grabbing his hand she pulled him into one of the bedrooms, closing and locking the door behind her.

Sayuri and Mori were squaring off against Kasumi, who had no idea that Derek was coming up behind her. 

"No! Don't!" Ayame yelled, as Derek reached around Kasumi with his claws. 

But, it was too late. With a single savage swipe, blood spurted out from Kasumi's throat, and she collapsed to the floor as Ayame sobbed hysterically.

Boyd swung his huge fist at Kazuki, catching him in the jaw and knocking him down. Erica was on him at once, her teeth sinking down into the soft, exposed flesh of his throat. She bit down hard, pulling away with a sickening tearing sound, spitting out skin, tendon and muscle as he bled out beneath her. Ayame saw it all happen before she could even protest. Her family had been decimated in mere minutes. Dropping Tadashi's lifeless body, she took a few short steps to Kaede, gathered his still unmoving form into her arms and ran out through the door and into the night, before anyone could stop her.

Everyone stood still for a moment. Everything was quiet except for the sounds of Kaori's soft sobbing over her dead husband. Mori and Sayuri moved to sit by her side.

"What just happened?" asked Isaac, his eyes large and bewildered.

"I don't know," Derek answered. He knelt down next to Stiles. "Are you okay?" 

Stiles nodded, his eyes full of tears, and reached up to hug Derek's neck. Derek wrapped his arms around him, and pulled him to standing. Stiles was still weak, and wouldn't have been able to stand on his own, but Derek was more than strong enough for the both of them. Keeping one arm around Stiles' waist, he reached up with his other hand and stroked the back of Stiles' head as Stiles sobbed into his shoulder.

"Shhhh," Derek said. "You're okay. You're okay. You're safe now."

Scott came up behind Stiles, and hugged him from behind, resting his chin on his shoulder. Erica and Isaac wrapped their arms around the three of them from either side, and Boyd embraced them all with his huge form. As Derek kissed Stiles' temple and massaged the back of his head, the tremors in Stiles body slowly subsided. His breathing slowed and he snuggled in closer to Derek, safe, warm, and secure, at the center of his pack.


	7. Red Spider Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles was asleep again, Derek having carried him to the couch, and gently laying down with Stiles on top of him. Derek was asleep too, his arms wrapped protectively over Stiles' slight form. As Allison and Danny approached, Lydia covered them with a blanket and gently placed a hand on Stiles' head.
> 
> Despite the horrific tableau of dead bodies around them, the corners of Danny's lips twitched upwards when he saw Derek and Stiles on the couch. "They're kind of adorable, aren't they?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we have come to the conclusion of our ninja & werewolf saga! This was a crazy plot bunny that grew from a cute and tiny 10k one-shot into the 60k behemoth I now present to you. Thank you to everyone that read along the way; your support and encouragement was the fuel that got me to the end of this endeavor.
> 
> If you liked this, please spread the word! This fic took a lot out of me, but who knows, I could be encouraged to write another someday...

"Oh my God!" Danny gasped, seeing the dead bodies when he and Allison finally emerged from the bedroom. Allison had explained to him what was happening while they were hiding, but nothing could have prepared him for the carnage.

Stiles was asleep again, Derek having carried him to the couch, and gently laying down with Stiles on top of him. Derek was asleep too, his arms wrapped protectively over Stiles' lanky form. As Allison and Danny approached, Lydia covered them with a blanket and gently placed a hand on Stiles' head.

Despite the horrific tableau of dead bodies around them, the corners of Danny's lips twitched upwards when he saw Derek and Stiles on the couch. "They're kind of adorable, aren't they?"

Lydia sighed softly. "Yeah," she replied, a melancholy note to her voice.

She lifted her head and turned to survey the damage that had been done to the cabin. She grimaced when her eyes landed on Kasumi, throat torn open, laying face-up in a pool of her own blood. "What are we going to do with the bodies?" she asked carefully, her face betraying the shock she felt at the words that had just come out of her mouth.

When no one answered, she cast her eyes around the room, looking into each of their faces. "We have to do something," she said, sounding like she was trying to control her panic. "We can't just leave them here."

Sayuri rose from where she was crouching, pulling herself away from the rest of the Tanaka family. Placing a hand on Lydia's shoulder, she said, "Believe it or not, we have powders for this. It should be no surprise to you that we must frequently dispose of dead bodies in our work. Because we are by a lake, we can use 'Heart of the Ocean.' It will hold the bodies at the bottom of the lake until they decompose."

Lydia nodded quickly, wiping some tears away. 'Well," she said with a shaky voice, "we'd better get to work. We have a long night ahead of us." 

She crouched down and gently gathered Kasumi's body into her arms. Rising, she blinked back some tears and began walking towards the door. Danny rushed ahead of her to hold the door open.

"Thank you," she whispered, crossing the threshold.

Danny nodded grimly, and turned to the others, snapping them out of their reverie. Sayuri went into the kitchen to find the vial of powder, as Scott crouched down to pick up Kazuki. Boyd and Erica moved to where Tadashi had fallen, but Mori and Kaori remained where they sat next to Shiro.

"Maybe we should see if there's some stuff in the bathroom we can use to start cleaning some of this up?" Danny whispered to Isaac and Allison.

Allison nodded, eyes glued to the Tanakas. Turning to Danny with a sad smile, she replied, "Yeah. Yeah, I think we should do that."

All three disappeared down the hallway as Sayuri emerged from the kitchen, a small vial of beige powder in her hands. She accompanied Scott and Boyd, as they left the cabin with the dead Night Flowers in their arms.

They found Lydia outside with a rowboat that she had taken out of the shed. Kasumi was inside of it.

"I didn’t know you had this," commented Scott, as he gently laid Kazuki into the boat. 

"I don't really like to use it," Lydia replied, her eyes vacant as she watched Boyd lay Tadashi next to Kazuki. "I fell out of it once when I was little…" She trailed off as she looked over her shoulder at the path to the lake. "Plus, it was always a pain to drag it to the lake," she laughed softly and sadly at that, and cast her eyes to the ground. "I guess I kind of forgot about how strong we all are now."

As if to illustrate her point, she hooked her fingers under the edge of the rim, lifting her end of the boat with ease. 

"What about Shiro?' asked Scott, glancing back at the cabin as if either Mori or Kaori were about to appear with Shiro in their arms.

"We will take care of him later," Sayuri said, positioning herself behind Lydia near the back of the boat.

Scott and Boyd got the other side, and together, they all made their way to the lake. They set the bow of the boat in the water, and Lydia climbed inside. Sayuri got into the boat after her, then held up her hand when Scott moved to join them.

"It is all right," she said. "Lydia and I can take care of this part. If you would push us out onto the water, I would appreciate it."

Scott nodded silently, placed his hands on the stern, and shoved. The boat glided out onto the smooth moonlit surface of the lake, distorting the glossy black with ripples. Lydia and Sayuri each grabbed an oar and began rowing the small watercraft out to the middle of the lake, as Scott and Boyd stood and watched from the shore. 

They continued rowing silently, as Scott and Boyd left the lake for the cabin. After a while, Lydia spoke. "Have you had to do this a lot?"

"No," Sayuri answered. "Actually, I have never done this. The few times I had to dispose of a body, I used 'Heart of the World' to do it."

"What does that do?' asked Lydia.

"It pulls the bodies into the ground."

"Why didn't we just use that?" Lydia asked.

"It is a very difficult powder to make," Sayuri said. "Very expensive and time-consuming. We use 'Heart of the Ocean' whenever we can."

Lydia looked out over the water, listening to the rhythmic dip, pull and lift of their oars in the otherwise silent night. The forest and mountains created a black silhouette ringing the lake, broken only by the flickering orange of campfires and the brighter yellow light from cabin windows. Though the moon was bright with no clouds to obscure it, the outlines of individual trees and rocks were impossible to distinguish in the darkness. Lydia gazed up at the bright yellow face of the moon. In another week, it would be full.

"I think we are far enough," said Sayuri, pulling her oar into the boat.

"Okay," Lydia replied, pulling in her oar as well. "What do we do now?"

Sayuri pulled the vial from her pocket. "We just need to sprinkle a little bit of this on the bodies, and then put them in the water."

"That doesn't look like very much," Lydia said, eyeing the vial.

"It does not take very much," Sayuri replied, pulling the stopper.

She tipped the bottle to the side, reached her thumb and forefinger in, and pinched a little bit of the powder between her fingers. Looking at Kasumi, she blinked a few times, then sprinkled the little bit of the powder she had pinched over Kasumi's chest.

"That's it?" Lydia asked.

"That's it," Kasumi answered.

"I feel like we should say something," Lydia pressed.

Sayuri gave her a sober look. "This is the way of the Night Flowers," she said, not unkindly. "We understand the risk when we are sent on an assignment. We have no ritual for honoring our dead because so often, we die alone."

Lydia was silent for a moment as she looked at Kasumi. She was so beautiful, couldn't have been more than three or four years older than herself. After living her life fighting to protect the people of the world from unspeakable horrors, she was now about to be unceremoniously disposed of in a lake. No one would know she was there. No one would come to visit her. She was going to literally disappear into the night.

Reaching down to move a stray hair from Kasumi's face, Lydia wondered if this was what the future had in store for her. She might not get even this. As Sayuri had said, most Night Flowers died alone. Would she leave on an assignment one day, and simply never return, her friends and family never hearing from her again, never knowing what happened to her? She wanted to be a Night Flower. She could feel it inside of her. This is who she was now, what she was training to become. But, looking down now at Kasumi's lifeless form, she began to wonder if she truly understood what that meant.

Lydia hooked an arm under Kasumi's legs and lifted them up over the rim of the boat. She maneuvered Kasumi's body until she was halfway out of the boat, then lifted her by the armpits. She wanted to lower her gently into the water, to make it as dignified as possible, but she didn't want to risk tipping the little boat over. So with a slight lift and a shove, she sent Kasumi's body over the side with a not insignificant splash. Her body disappeared into the water at once, and except for the water that had arced up and over the side into the boat, it was like she was never there.

Sayuri sprinkled more of the powder onto Kazuki and Tadashi, then put the vial back into her pocket. Together, they put the two men into the water, then rowed back to the shore. They saw Kaori and Mori waiting with Shiro as they approached. Sayuri jumped out of the boat once the keel hit the sand, and pulled the boat the rest of the way out of the water. Lydia got out of the boat as Sayuri handed the vial to Mori, who dipped her head in silent thanks. Kaori placed her husband in the boat, and Sayuri pushed the boat out onto the lake once Mori and Kaori were inside. She and Lydia watched as they rowed out onto the water.

After Mori and Kaori were some distance away, she turned to Lydia. "We should get back to the cabin," she said softly.

Lydia nodded silently, and began walking down the path. "Do you ever think about dying?" she asked eventually, when they were about halfway back.

"Always," Sayuri said. "Every time I am sent on an assignment. I have heard it is not a good trait in a Night Flower." She shrugged, as reached up to tie her hair into a ponytail. "I suppose that does not matter; I am still alive."

"Does it bother you that you might die alone someday? That no one will know what happened to you?" Lydia pressed.

"No," Sayuri said, answering honestly. She looked up at the moon. "This is the life I chose. This is what I want to do. To be able to do good in this life is all I can ask for." She shrugged. "To ponder my end...what good would it do?"

When they got back to the cabin, they found everyone except for Stiles busy trying to clean the blood from the floor. Even Derek was on his hands and knees, scrubbing next to Scott and Allison, somehow having extracted himself from underneath Stiles, who was still asleep on the couch.

Lydia ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it back from her face. Grabbing a spare towel, she crouched down next to Danny, and began to wipe at the blood, trying not to think about whose it was.

 

* * *

 

Mori blinked at the bright light streaming in through the window. Turning her head, she saw that Lydia was asleep beside her. She couldn't remember how she had gotten there. Everything that happened after she and her mother had slipped her father into the lake was a blur. She got up quietly from the bed, trying not to disturb Lydia, and walked into the living room.

Somehow, everyone had managed to clean up the horror of a mess that had been the living room, before they had all gone to sleep. Derek was asleep on the couch again, with Stiles sleeping on top of him. She assumed Derek must have let her mother and Sayuri use their room for the night. Hearing some noises in the kitchen, she made her way there, as quiet as only a Night Flower could be, and opened the door.

The smell of coffee filled the air, and she breathed in deep. Scott, Allison, and Danny were at the small breakfast table, whispering over mugs of the dark liquid. She noticed the bandage on Danny's hand. Mori went to go pour herself a cup.

"Good morning," Allison said, putting her mug down on the table, her brow furrowed in concern. "How are you doing?"

Mori sat down in the empty chair and took a sip of the coffee, savoring its warmth and its rich musky flavor. "I'm fine," she said, not meeting any of their eyes. She couldn't think about her father. Not right now. There was too much to do.

"We have to leave today," she continued, taking another sip of her coffee. "We need to find out where Ayame went with Kaede. If he is being controlled by the 'Rage of the Sea,' we will need to take care of him."

"Of course, " Allison replied, nodding supportively. "As soon as everyone's awake, we can pack and hit the road."

Mori looked up, surprised. "I am sorry; you misunderstand me. I only meant that Sayuri, my mother, and I have to leave today. This is Night Flower business. We must take care of it on our own."

"Oh," Allison said softly, seeming to shrink into her chair.

"What about Lydia?" asked Danny.

"I think it would be best if she stayed here. Her training is far from complete, and she has yet to learn our customs. When everything is done, someone will be sent to continue her training," Mori replied.

"What about you?" asked Scott.

"If I am still alive, then it is most likely that I will be the one to return," Mori said. She finished her coffee. "Please excuse me, I must go now to see if my mother and Sayuri are awake."

She left the kitchen, trying not to notice their sad smiles. As she walked across the living room, Derek called out to her softly, "Mori! Wait!"

Turning to look at him, she saw that Stiles was still asleep on top of him. Derek's hand was on the back of Stiles' head.

"I heard you say that you had to leave," he said, eyeing her carefully.

"Yes," she replied. "It is important that we leave as soon as possible."

Derek nodded. "I understand," he said. "I just wanted to thank you. For everything." He paused. "I'm sorry about your father."

Mori tried to respond, but her voice caught. She opted for a formal bow instead, and retreated to the room she knew her mother and Sayuri would be in. After listening for a moment at the door, she determined they were both awake. She knocked softly to announce her presence, then let herself in. Her mother and Sayuri were both dressed, and it looked like they were packing the few things they had brought with them.

"Good morning, daughter," her mother said. 

"Good morning, mother," Mori replied.

"We will be leaving very soon," her mother continued. "I trust you understand why?"

"Yes," Mori said. "I will get dressed and gather my things."

Kaori nodded without looking at her. Mori let herself out and went back to her room. Lydia was awake by then.

"Are you sure I shouldn't go with you?" Lydia asked. She had obviously been listening to the conversations in the house.

"Yes, I am sure," Mori said. "I do not think you are ready for something like this. Also, I think it is best if there is a Night Flower with the pack, just in case something happens. You and Stiles can train together until I return." 

"If you return," Lydia countered.

Mori chose not to answer that, shrugging out of the shirt she had slept in to put on the black, long-sleeved shirt of her uniform.

Lydia got out of the bed and stood by the door. "Just, be careful."

Mori stopped what she was doing, and looked Lydia in the eye, giving her a melancholy smile. "I will."

Lydia nodded and let herself out of the room. Mori finished putting her uniform on, then packed up her things. When she got to the living room, her mother and Sayuri were waiting for her.

Derek had gotten out from underneath Stiles, and was standing with Scott, Allison, Danny, and Lydia, facing the Night Flowers. Mori joined her mother and Sayuri.

"We are forever in your debt," Kaori said, bowing to Derek and his pack. Mori and Sayuri bowed with her.

Derek bowed, and the others followed suit. "As we are in yours," he said, standing up straight again. "May the shadows keep you."

Kaori gave him a wry smile before answering, "May the shadows keep you."

The three Night Flowers turned to leave the cabin, but Mori paused at the door, after her mother and Sayuri had already left. She locked eyes with Derek for a moment before giving him an almost imperceptible nod. He nodded back, and she left the cabin, closing the door silently behind her.

 

* * *

 

Stiles took a deep breath, squinting at the bright afternoon sky, even though he was wearing sunglasses. He was reclining in a chair along the shore with Derek, Lydia and Allison, as their friends waded in the water or cooked things on the grill. It had been two days since the Night Flowers had left, but his head still felt like someone was squeezing it with a vice. Not hard, but still, squeezing. He had taken some painkillers already, good ones that Lydia had given him, and they helped, but still, there was squeezing.

"Are you okay?" asked Derek.

As much as he loved Derek, there were times when having a living medical scanner/lie detector around all the time was kind of annoying. Stiles understood that Derek, having lived all of his life as a werewolf, didn't have the same need for privacy that most other people had, nor did he seem to understand it. And, he seemed to be overly concerned with Stiles' well being, to an obnoxious degree, which okay, Stiles understood that part, being surrounded by supernaturally strong, and sometimes dangerous, creatures all the time, but seriously, sometimes the dude needed to chill.

"I'm fine," Stiles answered, not quite able to keep the irritation out of his voice.

He could sense that Derek wasn't buying it, but he at least seemed to drop it for now. Stiles stood up.

"I'm going for a walk," he announced, heading down the beach. 

Derek moved to get up, but Stiles looked at him and shook his head slightly. Derek looked hurt, but lowered himself back down into the chair. 

Derek, Lydia and Allison watched as he started to walk away. Lydia turned to Allison, then Derek, giving him a guilty look before popping out of her chair and jogging after Stiles.

Stiles heard the footsteps behind him, annoyed at first, but realizing quickly that if it was Derek chasing after him, he wouldn't have heard anything at all. He turned, seeing Lydia's long red hair swaying as she ran towards him. He just wanted to have some time to himself, but he could deal with Lydia. He could always deal with Lydia.

He slipped his sunglasses into his pocket.

When she reached him, she threaded her arm between his arm and his body, pulling him close so that they were walking the way that lovers might walk along the beach.

"You were making a lot of noise for a Night Flower," he commented, smiling a little.

She jabbed her elbow into his side. "Maybe I didn't want to surprise you," she said, squinting up at him in annoyance. Her face softened. "You surprised us all," she continued, softly. "When you came back like that. When you saved Derek."

Stiles sighed heavily, but didn't say anything. He hadn't said much the last two days, not to anyone. Not to Derek. Not even to Scott. And so far, they had all seemed to agree that it was best to leave him alone. But apparently, Lydia was done with leaving him alone.

"We're worried about you, Stiles," she said, as the curve of the shore took them out of the sightline of their friends. "Ever since you woke up. We're not used to seeing you live inside of your head like this. What's going on up there?" she asked, pretending to knock on his temple.

Stiles sighed again. He hadn't told anyone about the white room, about the world between worlds. About his mother. For a while, he didn't feel like he _could_ talk about it, like it was too personal. It was. Personal. He had spent the last two days going over the decisions he had made, trying to justify them to himself. He kept circling back to the thought that he hadn't done enough, that he should have done more, tried harder. It wasn't something that he felt he had the strength to fess up to. But, the thoughts were eating him alive. He needed to tell someone. 

"I saw my mom," he began, squinting out over the water. "When I was unconscious, I saw my mom."

Lydia gave him a worried look. "You mean like in a dream?"

Shaking his head, he answered, "No, she was there. I was in this place, and Derek was there, and all Night Flowers that the kami killed, they were all lying there, and I was with them, talking to my mom."

"I don't understand," Lydia said.

"She called it the world between worlds," Stiles continued. "They were trapped there because of something that I did, and the kami was connected to them somehow."

"Okay," Lydia said, nodding slowly. With everything that had happened to them over the last two years, she was pretty much ready to believe anything. "What was your mom doing there?" she asked.

Stiles raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side. "She said that she knew I was gonna be there, so she came. She said that I was there to save them."

Lydia took a breath to say something, but closed her mouth again, not wanting to ask if something had gone wrong.

"She said I could only save one of them," Stiles croaked out. He lifted a hand to angrily wipe away a tear. He looked out over the lake and pressed his trembling lips together into a miserable line. "So, I picked Derek." 

Lydia drew in a quick, sharp breath, and wrapped her arms around him. "Of course you did," she said, squeezing him as he began to sob. "Of course you did. No one would expect you to do any different."

"I couldn't save them," Stiles cried into her hair. "They're dead because of me!"

"No!" Lydia said, stroking the back of his head. "No. This isn't your fault Stiles. It's not your fault. You did everything that you could. You can't blame yourself for this."

"And, Derek almost died," he blurted, his breathing becoming erratic. "He was dead! Derek was dead!" Stiles could feel the panic rising in his chest, the shortness of breath that came with the wracking sobs. "I don't know what I would have done. If he died. I can't lose him! I can't lose anyone again, I can't!"

"Shhh," Lydia said, shaking her head, still holding tightly onto his shaking form. "You won't lose him, Stiles. He's not going anywhere. He's a big, strong Alpha werewolf. We couldn't get rid of him if we tried."

They held each other for a long time, until Stiles stopped crying. Stiles released her and wiped away the last of his tears, giving her a small sad smile.

"Thanks," he said half-laughing, sniffling and sounding exhausted.

She grabbed his hand and smiled back at him. "What are friends for?" Taking a deep breath, she asked, "You wanna head back? That Alpha werewolf is probably working himself into a fit worrying about you right now."

Stiles smiled at the ground and then nodded, putting his sunglasses back on. "Yeah, I could use some Alpha werewolf right about now."

"Good!" Lydia said brightly, tugging at his hand as she headed back in the direction of their friends.

They remained silent on the walk back, Stiles lost in his thoughts, and Lydia worried about getting back before Derek did something drastic. When had she started to worry so much about Derek, anyway? This whole wolf pack thing was really starting to get to her.

They both noticed the tension ebbing from Derek's shoulders as they drew closer. Stiles smiled and tried not to chuckle to himself about that. When they got back, Stiles opted to sit in Derek's lap instead of his own chair, leaning into Derek’s chest and sighing. Lydia walked past them to help Danny at the grill, and Allison stood up to join them. She smiled softly at Stiles before drifting away.

Stiles turned to face Derek and took his sunglasses off, which prompted Derek to do the same. Stiles tipped his head forward to give Derek a peck on the lips. 

"I love you," he said, looking seriously into Derek's eyes. It did nothing to ease the little wrinkle of concern between Derek's eyebrows.

"I love you, too," Derek said, his voice sincere, though suspicious, and his expression did not change.

Stiles sighed and tucked his head into the crook of Derek's neck. As he gazed out over the water, Derek moved so that his cheek was resting against the top of Stiles' head. Somehow, Stiles was still able to sense Derek's worry.

"I'm fine," Stiles said. "Really."

"Okay," Derek replied, though he didn't sound like he believed him.

The sun was low in the sky, and the air had started to cool, though it was still warm. Danny called out that the food was done, but Stiles wasn't hungry. He smiled as he watched some people in a boat at the far end of the lake, thinking about the cliché about how people far away always looked like ants. Ants in a boat. The sound of his friends talking and laughing merged with the strong and steady thump of Derek's heart. It was better than a lullaby, he thought, as he closed his eyes and fell sleep.

A few days later, it was time to head home, and Stiles and Derek began packing in preparation for leaving the following morning.

"You know," Stiles said, folding up his board shorts and putting them into his suitcase. "I'm actually gonna miss this place."

Derek snorted, as he checked a drawer to make sure he hadn't left anything behind.

"No, I'm serious!" Stiles said, folding up a shirt. "You know, if you forget about the 'Rage of the Sea' killing everybody and the near-death experience, it was pretty nice up here." Stiles nodded to himself. "I think we should come back, sometime. Maybe we can ask Lydia if we can use it for my birthday!" he said excitedly, wiggling his eyebrows at Derek. "Maybe we can come up here by ourselves, just the two of us!"

Derek gave him an evil grin. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Stiles chuckled and walked up to him, wrapping his arms around Derek's waist. "You have no idea," he said, with his forehead pressed against Derek's, looking him deeply in the eyes.

Derek smiled broadly and kissed him, soft and slow. He was about to say something, but went tense suddenly.

"What is it?" Stiles asked turning his head when he heard footsteps running towards their room.

Their door flew open. It was Erica.

"You need to come! Now!" she said.

Stiles and Derek bolted from the room. Mori, Kaori and Sayuri were in the living room.

"What is it?" asked Derek. "What happened?"

The Night Flowers bowed to him and quickly stood up straight again.

"It is Ayame," Kaori said. "She and Kaede have convinced the rest of the Yoshida family that werewolves are dangerous and must be destroyed."

"What?!" exclaimed Stiles. "Why?"

"Because, you killed Kasumi and Kazuki. And, Ayame's son, Tadashi," Kaori answered.

"But, they were possessed!" Derek argued. "They would've killed Stiles if we didn't stop them! They might have killed all of us!"

"Yes," Kaori said, "but Ayame thinks you could have saved them. They are coming here tonight to seek their vengeance."

"The Clan of the Night Flowers can't condone this!" Derek said, afraid now. Mori could have killed them all during her first stay with them, he had no doubt about that, and she was just a single Night Flower. There was no way his pack would be able to face the whole clan.

"The clan elders do not agree with this action, but the Yoshida family has declared a blood debt," Kaori replied. "Though the clan will not stand against them; they will not stop the Yoshida family from coming, either. But, you must understand, the Yoshida family is a large one, and I cannot overstate the danger to your pack. As we are only three, we were able to move fast enough to bring you warning."

"Does this mean you will stand with us against them?" Derek asked.

"You have proven yourselves worthy allies," Kaori said. "And, we bore witness to the events that occurred here. We will stand with you, but we are all that is left of the Tanaka family," she concluded, gesturing at Mori and Sayuri.

Stiles eyes went wide. "How many of them did you say were coming?" he asked.

"There are thirty-four in the Yoshida family," Kaori answered, "though that number includes children, and perhaps two or three who are too old to fight. There will be at least twenty arriving tonight to avenge their fallen."

"Twenty?" Stiles mouthed in silent horror.

"How are we going to fight that many Night Flowers?" Derek asked, not sure if there was going to be an answer.

Kaori turned to Mori, who nodded and stepped forward. She pulled a vial made of cut crystal from her pocket. It was filled with a burgundy powder. 

"This is powdered red spider lily," she said. "It weakens Night Flowers, in much the same way that wolfsbane is toxic to werewolves. If you put some of this on your claws, it should help to counteract the advantage of numbers they have over you."

"But, how are we supposed to fight what we can't see?" asked Scott.

"Well," said Mori, "that is where Stiles comes in."

"What am I supposed to do?" asked Stiles, incredulously.

"You will need to link us all together," Mori answered, "so that we will be able to see them through you."

"How am I supposed to do that?" he asked, throwing his arms wide. "I don't know how to do that!"

"You are going to have to learn," Mori said sternly. "Come, we need to go to the fire pit." She turned to Lydia and Derek. "Lydia, if you would please come with us. Derek, we will need at least one of the wolves as well." 

Derek locked eyes with Isaac. Isaac nodded.

"All right," Mori said. "We do not have a lot of time. Derek, my mother and Sayuri will help you with preparations here," she said, handing the vial to Kaori. "If anyone needs us, we will be by the lake."

She turned to leave, and Stiles, Lydia and Isaac quickly followed after her.

"So, what do we need to do?' Derek asked Kaori.

"You will need to handle the red spider lily," she said, handing the vial to Derek. "Sayuri and I cannot touch it. Make sure all of your wolves get some of it on their fingers, and then put some of it on the windows and doors, just in case. Meet us outside in the clearing, where we formed the circle for the 'Rage of the Sea.' Sayuri and I will do what we can to prepare for tonight."

"Wait a minute," Allison cut in. "Why are we going to the clearing? Wouldn't it make more sense to stay here? Wouldn't we be able to defend ourselves better if we stayed in the cabin?"

Kaori shook her head. "The Yoshida family specializes in poison. If we tried to make our stand here, we would all be dead within minutes of their arrival. We will make our stand in the clearing. It is the only way."

Kaori and Sayuri bowed. 

"May the shadows keep you," Kaori intoned.

"May the shadows keep you," Derek replied.

 

* * *

 

Stiles and Lydia were sitting across from each other at the fire pit that Kaori and Sayuri had made in the clearing, while Mori, Scott, Allison and Danny stood guard around them.

"I can't believe you brought your lacrosse stick to the lake," Scott said to Danny.

"Yeah, well, aren't you glad I did?" Danny asked, smiling nervously as he bounced the red spider lily laced ball in the net. Danny could hurl a lacrosse ball faster and more accurately than almost anyone on the team, and Stiles was frankly glad to have him.

"We should probably get started," Lydia said. "It's starting to get dark, and we don't know how long this will take."

Stiles nodded and closed his eyes, concentrating on the logs in the fire pit and on Lydia. There hadn’t been time to train him properly, so they were using the fire pit as a crutch. Normally, when they did things like this, Mori was the one in charge, guiding and directing their thoughts, actions and energies. But, they were short on fighters as it was, and Stiles and Lydia had progressed far enough in their training that they should be able to do this on their own. 

He and Lydia were supposed to try to start the fire, emphasis on _try_. When they had trained earlier by the lakeshore, they hadn't been able to get the fire started. Without Kaede, the amount of energy they had to draw on for that particular task had essentially been cut in half. He remembered Mori's voice.

 _It does not matter if the fire ignites,_ she had said. _It only matters that you try._

Stiles took a deep breath and tried to steady himself, a monumental task considering the fact that a very large group of highly skilled, and particularly unhappy, ninjas were about to descend on them at any moment, ninjas who very much wanted to kill them all. Right, no problem! Just breathe and concentrate.

He cracked an eye to look at Lydia, who actually kind of looked serene sitting there across from him. Closing his eye again, he tried to picture the logs in his mind, etching them out as best he could in exacting detail. Eventually, he stilled himself to the point that he could hear Lydia's breathing, and he tried to sync his breaths up with hers. It all would have been relaxing if he could forget for a minute that he was in very real danger of dying, for the second time in as many weeks. Okay. Breathe. Just, breathe.

He felt it like a feather, then. A piece of down that had escaped from a pillow only to crash into his forehead. It had the distinct feel of Lydia. If someone had asked him how that sensation could have felt like Lydia, he wouldn't have been able to explain it; he just knew. Those were her thoughts, reaching out to him across open space, searching and groping, trying to connect with him. All he had to do was open up to it. So, he did.

His lips parted slightly at the sensation. Lydia was airy and light, rigid and soft. Sharp. Her thoughts were wily, slippery, cautious, but he had the sense that she was trying to trust him, to trust this new thing that they were doing. She was intelligence and innocence, determination and fierce, raw strength. He grasped at her thoughts with his mind, and suddenly, they were joined together.

Without prompting, they opened their eyes at the same time. Stiles could see the pale wisps of purple smoke rising from Lydia's skin, and she could see the flood of light coming from Stiles eyes. 

"We need to connect to the others," Stiles said softly.

Lydia nodded, closing her eyes again. Not really sure what it was they were doing, they sent their thoughts to the most obvious choice: Mori. Her mind was familiar to them; she would be the easiest to link to. Mori sensed what they were doing, and opened herself up freely to them, ready to accept the gift of Stiles' sight. His strength washed over her like a breaking dam, causing her to stumble.

"Mori?" Allison asked, "Is everything okay?"

Mori nodded quickly. "I am fine," she forced out through gritted teeth, deciding she was going to have to teach Stiles about the finer points of subtlety.

As she allowed herself to be joined to them, her vision shifted, and she saw the pale periwinkle light begin to lift off of her body like smoke. Turning to Scott, she watched as his eyes widened in surprise, apparently having gotten caught up in Stiles and Lydia's ever-widening net. He began to emit the pale gold aura that they had learned was the energy signature of werewolves, when Mori had their hasty training session earlier with Stiles, Lydia and Isaac.

"Whoa!" breathed out Scott, lifting his hands to his face. "I'm glowing!" He lowered his hands again. "You are too, Mori!"

Mori could tell by the expressions on their faces that Allison and Danny were able to see the glow, as well. "This is what you need to be looking for," she said, holding up a hand. "This purple light is the energy signature of the Night Flowers. You will be able to see it, even while they are invisible. My mother, Sayuri and I will remain visible, so there will not be any confusion. If you see purple light with no body, shoot it."

Allison and Danny nodded in understanding.

Mori looked out into the night again. The Yoshida family was out there somewhere, waiting to attack, and she needed to ready her mind for battle.

Stiles and Lydia continued to expand their senses outward, slowly bringing more and more of their group under the net of their influence. The connection with Mori had been rough; Stiles would need to apologize to her later for that if he had the chance. Adding Scott, Danny and Allison had been much smoother. They now had most of their group connected, with only Sayuri and Isaac still outside of the net, being the furthest away.

Suddenly, there was a small explosion in the distance that almost caused Stiles to lose his concentration. He quickly focused again, maintaining the connection that would prevent them from fighting blind.

"Stay here!" Mori yelled, leaping in the direction of the sound.

Scott, Allison and Danny watched as she disappeared into the trees. Allison notched an arrow into her bow. Stiles realized he could see through the eyes of anyone he was connected to, and watched as Mori approached the site of the explosion. There was a thin column of smoke rising from the ground, but otherwise, nothing else to see. He wondered if Lydia was able to see through everyone else's eyes as well.

"There!" Scott yelled out, pointing.

"Got it," Allison replied calmly, sighting down her arrow at the vaguely person shaped body of periwinkle light that was rushing towards them. She released, and the red spider lily tipped arrow found its target about twenty yards away from where they stood, a black and purple-clad body suddenly materializing out of thin air and falling to the ground. They could hear heavy breathing and soft grunting, but the body didn't move.

"I think the explosion was just a distraction," Mori said, having returned to the group on silent Night Flower feet.

Allison spun around in surprise, another arrow notched and drawn, quickly lowering her weapon when she saw whom it was. "Sorry," she said.

"It is all right," Mori replied.

They stood silently for several minutes, listening to the soft rustle of the breeze on the leaves, and the occasional frustrated grunting of the Night Flower that Allison had shot down.

"What are they waiting for?" Danny whispered, nervously bouncing the ball in his lacrosse stick.

"I do not know," Mori answered. "I think that man may have been a scout, to test our defenses," she said, tilting her head towards the Night Flower that was on the ground.

"Would it be too much to hope that they decided our defenses are too strong, and they're not going to attack us after all?" Scott asked.

"Yes," Mori replied.

Scott frowned and looked out into the trees.

After a few more minutes of silence and the man's groaning, Danny turned to the others. "Maybe we should go get him? It seems wrong to just leave him lying there."

Mori shook her head. "He will be fine. No Night Flower has ever died from red spider lily poisoning."

"I thought you said it was like wolfsbane to werewolves?" Allison asked.

"Red spider lily is not toxic to us the way wolfsbane is to werewolves," Mori replied. "It only weakens us. That is why he cannot move and why he cannot make himself invisible right now. He will not be able to do very much for a few days, but otherwise, he will be fine."

"That doesn't sound very reassuring," Allison said. "They _are_ trying to kill us."

"Do not worry," Mori said, drawing her katana. "Red spider lily essentially paralyzes Night Flowers, once it gets into the bloodstream." She squinted a little, her face serious. "We can kill them if we have to."

Suddenly, there were explosions everywhere, screaming, and yelling, as the air filled with acrid smoke. Scott fell down coughing, as Stiles tried to keep control and maintain his and Lydia's connection with everyone.

"Wolfsbane," Scott coughed out, drawing in more of the poison with every gasping breath.

Stiles tried to suppress his panic. While he and his friends were fighting against the Yoshida family with red spider the lily, the Yoshidas had come prepared with what was probably the deadliest poison in their arsenal for this particular fight: wolfsbane. It should have been no surprise. That's exactly what Stiles would have done.

Stiles stood up, which caused Lydia to stand up with him. The werewolves would be defenseless surrounded by all of this wolfsbane. They all would be.

"What do we do, Stiles?" Lydia asked, panic creeping into her voice.

"I don't know," he answered shaking his head, surprised that they were still connected to everyone. Perhaps, he thought, now that the connection had been made and held for some time, it could be maintained without their absolute concentration. 

"Stiles," Scott groaned, coughing some more. 

There were more explosions in the forest, and sounds of fighting.

"We can't see anything!" Danny yelled.

"We have to do something!" Lydia said, crouching down next to Scott. "He might be dying!"

Stiles began breathing heavy. This was too much responsibility! How was he supposed to do this? Everyone kept saying he was a Spirit Walker, but what did that even mean? What was he supposed to do?

He looked around in panic at the thickening smoke, looked down at his best friend, struggling for breath. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest, his heartbeat accelerating as adrenaline was dumped into his bloodstream. The world was dissolving into madness, strange and hazy shapes moving through the smoke and shadows, the smell of sulfur and wolfsbane burning in his nostrils, screams of fear and rage. His heart was racing, a staccato drum in his ears, a ticking clock telling him that he was running out of time. 

In wide-eyed desperation, he roared out, punching in Scott's direction with his fist, like he was practicing with a tiki torch, only this tiki torch was way too big, and the consequences for not making the flame go out were higher than he was willing to imagine. As his fist moved forward, he could sense his energy wrapping around it, like gossamer threads of candyfloss around a paper cone at the cotton candy booth at the county fair. It surged forward with a sonic boom, blasting Scott and Lydia with a rush of wind that cleared the air of smoke.

Scott took a deep breath and collapsed to the floor, savoring the fresh air.

"What was that? What did you do?" asked Lydia, gaping at him.

"I don't know," Stiles said, shaking his head. "It just happened."

"Well, do it again!" Lydia yelled, gesturing desperately. "The smoke is coming back!"

Stiles screwed up his face in concentration, and struck with his fist, but nothing happened.

"Stiles!" Lydia yelled, as the smoke once again filled the small pocket of clean air that he had created and Scott started to cough again.

"Scott?!" Allison called out. "Scott, where are you?!"

The smoke was too thick. It was going to kill the werewolves, and leave the rest of them defenseless and blind against the Yoshidas. Stiles had a sudden moment of clarity. Everything went still and time seemed to stop. He had the ability to change this. This was his moment, and he was either going to take it, or this was going to be the end of him and his friends. He forced the air out of his nostrils in an angry puff. He was not going to die today. Not here, not now, and most certainly not at the hands of some irrational ninjas who were drunk on their own power. He was not going to die today, and he was definitely not going to let his friends die.

He assumed a fighting stance, drawing his fists to his sides. His mind flashed back to the forms Mori had taught them, how to properly throw a punch while keeping his body in balance, how to move so that one form flowed into the next, as if he were dancing instead of fighting. He struck out again with his fist, and the air moved slightly. It didn't move much, but he was not discouraged. He went through the motions, almost losing himself in the meditative quality of the forms, and with each strike of his hands or feet, he gathered power, until every punch brought with it a rush of air, every kick, a gale force wind. 

As the air cleared, Scott began to breathe normally, and targets were revealed for Allison, Mori and Danny. Knives, arrows and lacrosse balls went flying, and two more Night Flowers materialized and dropped to the ground. 

There was still smoke rising from the trees in some places, but the clearing was smoke-free.

 _Come to the clearing_ , Stiles thought, sending the message to all of his friends with his mind. _I can protect you here._

Allison gasped and staggered, a dart protruding from her shoulder. Angrily, she aimed her bow in the direction that the dart had come from, sighting own the arrow at the purple light, and releasing. There was another Night Flower down, but Allison collapsed almost immediately after.

"Allison!" Danny called out, crouching next to her.

The Tanakas had given them various solutions made from the powders they had brought with them, hoping to protect against some of the poisons that the Yoshidas might use. They had warned that for the most part, they could not make them immune to the poisons, but hopefully, with some of the antidotes in their system, the poisons would not kill them.

Mori crouched down next to Allison as well. Allison's eyes were closed, but she was breathing. Mori touched Allison's neck with her fingers to feel her pulse.

Scott squirmed his way into a sitting position. 'Is she okay?"

Mori nodded. "She will be fine, but she may not wake up for a few hours."

Mori stood up again as the werewolves entered the clearing. Derek was carrying Boyd over one shoulder, and Erica was carrying Isaac. Kaori and Sayuri entered the clearing from the other side. 

"What happened?" Mori asked.

"Boyd and Isaac got hit with some kind of poison darts," Derek said, coughing some of the wolfsbane smoke out of his lungs. "They'll be fine though," he added. "The darts weren't wolfsbane."

"They took down four of those Night Flower bastards first, though," Erica said, her gaze sliding over to the Tanakas. "No offense."

They all looked up suddenly, realizing they were not alone. They were surrounded by the remaining members of the Yoshida family, maybe a dozen in all. They were all visible now, having realized that the werewolves, and even the humans, could see them somehow. Kaede stepped forward, and Danny fired a lacrosse ball at him, earning himself a dart in his shoulder for the trouble. Kaede twisted slightly, allowing the lacrosse ball to fly past him as Danny collapsed to the floor. Stiles huffed out angrily as Scott struggled to his feet.

"I see your power has grown somewhat since I saw you last, Stiles," Kaede said with a sneer. "Too bad it will not be enough to save you!"

"Why are you doing this, Kaede?" Stiles yelled back to him. "You're supposed to be our friend!"

"You killed my sister, and my brother! My cousin, Tadashi!" Kaede spat out. "Did you think you would not have to answer for that?!"

"They were going to kill us!" Stiles yelled. "What were we supposed to do?"

"You can die!" Kaede screamed, surging forward along with the rest of the Yoshidas.

Stiles eyes went wide, and he felt, more than saw, the poisoned dart that was flying towards him. Without realizing what he was doing, he lifted a hand, gathering power as he moved, and deflected the dart into the ground. 

The two sides were woefully unmatched, and the Yoshidas fought with renewed vigor now that they were no longer trying to remain invisible. Stiles heard Lydia yelp in surprise, and turned to see her pawing at a dart that had hit near her breastbone. She met his gaze before collapsing to the ground. 

He turned back towards Kaede just in time to see Kaede's foot flying towards his face. Stiles lifted both hands to block it, and just barely managed to bat it away, but Kaede landed a punch to his stomach. Stiles doubled over, and didn't see the dark blur that was Derek plowing into Kaede's side, which sent him flying into a tree.

Derek gently placed one hand on Stiles' chest, and one hand on his back asking, "Are you okay?"

Stiles coughed, and nodded, trying to brush Derek away. There were too many Yoshida's and not enough pack; they couldn't afford to let Derek coddle him right now.

"Help the others," Stiles ground out through gritted teeth. "Let me deal with Kaede."

Derek looked like he was about to protest, but saw the fire in Stiles' eyes. Nodding once, he rushed away to help Erica who had somehow found herself besieged by four Night Flowers attacking her from opposite sides. 

Stiles ran at Kaede, no plan, no fighting experience really, but as his side's Spirit Walker, he figured it only made sense. Maybe it was a suicide mission, maybe Kaede had years of training and experience; it didn't matter. He had managed to do a lot of things tonight that he never thought he would be able to do. All he was asking for was one more miracle.

Kaede had gotten himself onto his feet again, but before he could get his bearings, Stiles tackled him back to the ground. Kaede hit the forest floor with a grunt, and they rolled a few times down the slight incline.

Stiles jumped to his feet, holding his fists in front of him defensively as Kaede rose to stand again. The sounds of battle were raging all around them, and Stiles had to resist the urge to look and see how his friends were doing.

Kaede laughed condescendingly as he brushed his bangs aside. "I admire your tenacity, Stiles. It is a pity you chose not to be with me. We could have done wonderful things together."

"I would never let you hurt my pack!" Stiles spat, unconsciously gathering power around his hands.

"It does not matter what you want!" Kaede roared back at him. "I am going to hurt you the way you hurt me!"

He rushed at Stiles with an upraised fist, seemingly determined to end it all with a single blow. It was a surprise to both of them when Stiles stepped to the side, not only dodging the blow, but delivering a punch of his own to Kaede's kidney. Stiles readjusted his stance as Kaede staggered. He knew better to than to attack Kaede outright. Because Stiles was neither a werewolf nor a Night Flower, Kaede moved far to quickly for Stiles to react to him by sight alone. But somehow, during the course of the night's battle, he realized he was able to _sense_ where an attack was coming from. 

Perhaps it was due to the all of the training he had done with Mori, Lydia and Kaede. Perhaps it was the emergence of his latent abilities as a Spirit Walker. Perhaps, by being connected to a pack of werewolves, a hunter, and four Night Flowers, he was tapping into their abilities and experience. He wasn't sure how he was doing it, but what he _did_ know was that he would be able to hold Kaede off, for at least a little while. 

Kaede spun to face him with an evil grin, and Stiles found himself the target of hands and feet seeming to strike at him from every direction. He leapt backwards at one point, slapping one of Kaede's feet away, but otherwise held his ground as he deflected blow, after blow, after blow.

It seemed to Stiles that Kaede would never grow tired of this, that he would continue to press his attack until Stiles made a mistake or until Stiles was simply too tired to continue. But then, he began to sense Kaede growing frustration. How was it that he had yet to land a single blow? Stiles had not trained his entire life to be a Night Flower; it was Kaede who had done that. 

It was then that Stiles found an opening. After knocking Kaede's fist to the side, Stiles noticed that Kaede had left his chest undefended. Perhaps it was because Stiles had not really tried to strike him beyond that first initial blow, and Kaede was getting sloppy. But for Stiles, it was another moment when it seemed like time had stopped. Without hesitation, Stiles stepped forward with his left foot, and punched with his right hand. He could feel the power wrapping itself around his fist as he struck forward, only this time, he imagined it like bands of iron, encasing his fist so that it was like a sledge hammer, a freaking wrecking ball, slamming into Kaede's chest. And, Kaede flew.

Kaede arced over the clearing like a shooting star, landing with a thump on the other side. Stiles rushed to his friends, but the battle was already over. Derek saw him coming, and rushed towards him, wrapping him up in his big strong arms and squeezing him just a little too tightly. Derek let him go, but then he grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him in for a desperate kiss.

Eventually, Stiles had to shove him off. "Derek," he said, grabbing Derek's face and looking him in the eye. "I'm all right. Really, I'm okay." 

Letting go, he looked around the clearing and saw that the only other people still standing were Scott, who was crouched down next to Allison, and Mori, who was walking towards them.

"How is everyone?" Stiles asked.

"They will live," Mori said. "There are a few broken bones here and there, but those will heal quickly. We are talking about Night Flowers and werewolves, after all. The only ones we might have worried about are Allison and Danny, but the antidotes we gave everyone seem to be working, so they should be fine."

"How did you beat them so quickly?" Stiles asked. "We were so outnumbered."

"They were not expecting the red spider lily," she answered with a grimace. "By the time they realized why they were dropping after only a single werewolf scratch, it was too late. Also, they were probably assuming that the wolfsbane would do most of the work for them, and that we would not be able to see them. We have you to thank for neutralizing both of those threats," she concluded, giving him a proud smile.

"What do we do about the Yoshidas?" Derek asked. "Won't they come after us again?"

Mori shook her head. "No, I do not think so. The fact that you did not kill any of them speaks well of your pack. The clan will not let them come after you again. They owe you their lives now, so in a way, the blood debt has been paid."

Scott walked up to them with Allison in his arms. "I'm gonna bring Allison back to the cabin," he announced.

They all nodded at him, and watched as he walked away.

"I suppose we should get the rest of our people back, as well," Derek said, matter-of-factly.

Stiles place a hand on Derek's back. "Mori said that any of the Night Flowers that got red spider lily in their bloodstream wouldn't be able to really do anything for a few days. We need to bring the Yoshidas back to the cabin, too."

Derek scowled at him and Mori sighed in annoyance.

"As much as I would like to leave them out here for punishment for what they did, I have to agree with Stiles," she said. "It would further prove to the clan that your pack does not wish them harm and would only make it harder for the Yoshidas to move against you in the future."

"Fine," Derek muttered under his breath, stalking off towards Danny. "But, I'm bringing our people back first."

Stiles smirked and turned to Mori. "Well, I'm not a super strong creature of the night like you and Derek, so I guess I'll go back to the cabin and get it ready for, what? Like, thirty people?"

Mori laughed softly. "Yes, I suppose that is about right. Send Scott back out here to help us once you get down there, all right?"

"Will do," he answered, and began the short walk back to the cabin.

 

* * *

 

Stiles woke up with Derek's arm around him. Because there were so many people in the cabin, they had ended up sharing the bed with Scott and Allison, and there were also three Yoshidas on the floor, still immobilized due to the red spider lily. The other two bedrooms were similarly packed, with the remaining people on the couches and the floor of the living room, besides the one Yoshida they decided to put in the bathtub for the night. 

After they had gotten everyone into the cabin, they realized that Kaede was missing. At first, Derek was worried, but Stiles managed to reassure him that if Kaede tried anything, that the two of them, plus Scott and Mori, were more than enough to take on a single disgruntled Yoshida, never mind the fact that he was both a Night Flower and a Spirit Walker. When it looked like Derek was going to argue further, Stiles reminded him that he had taken on Kaede all by himself during the fighting, and that he had managed to beat him soundly. Derek finally let the matter drop, though he made it clear that he didn't like it. Ever the magnanimous boyfriend, Stiles decided to let Derek have the last word.

Stiles and his friends were supposed to leave that morning. They had all agreed that Mori would stay with the incapacitated Night Flowers until they were well enough to leave on their own. The sunlight was streaming in through the window, strong and bright, and deciding that he would not be able to get back to sleep, Stiles tried to get up to make some coffee. His body immediately revolted against this idea, and he ended up grunting and collapsing back onto the mattress when he realized how sore he was.

Somehow, Derek and Scott had both managed to sleep through his first try at getting out of bed. Stiles was undeterred. As great as it was to be snuggled between his boyfriend and his best friend, he needed to get some caffeine into his body before things really started getting ugly, so despite the pain, which he was ready for this time, he extracted himself from Derek's embrace, and quietly crept out of the room.

He immediately noticed that the scent of coffee was already heavy on the air. Drifting to the kitchen, he yawned and scratched at his side. Mori was sitting at the little breakfast table, sipping coffee out of a mug, as she stared out the window.

"Good morning, Stiles," she said, smiling at him.

"Good morning, Mori," he replied, pouring himself a mug of sacred morning nectar. 

After dumping a crap ton of sugar and creamer into it, he stirred, took a slow sip, sighed, and plopped himself down at the table across from Mori.

"So, after we get these pesky Yoshidas sent off to Japan, I guess it's back to business as usual?" he said, smiling mischievously at her.

Mori looked at him very seriously, and nodded. "Oh yes, you know, the usual business of training ninjas and fighting monsters. Just the normal things that normal people do every day."

Stiles gasped and pointed an accusing finger at her. "J’accuse! I heard you say it! You said _ninjas_!"

Mori scrunched up her face, trying not to laugh and covered her mouth with her hand, unable to hold back a snicker. Assuming a serious face once again, she said, "I did no such thing," and took a sip of her coffee.

Stiles was shaking his head at her in amused gape-mouthed wonder when there was a knock on the door. He set his mug on the table in surprise, though Mori didn’t seem to really react to it.

"It is for you," she said, pausing between sips of coffee, truly serious now.

Stiles looked at her curiously, but got up from his chair and went to the front door of the cabin. As he approached, he could feel the pull of mystical energy emanating from the other side, so he was not surprised when he opened it and saw who it was.

Kaede locked eyes with him for a moment before giving him a deep bow. "You are a formidable opponent, Stiles Stilinski," he said, remaining in his bow position while as Stiles stood there blinking.

Eventually, Stiles let go of the doorknob, and returned a shallow bow, never removing his eyes from Kaede. "As are you, Kaede Yoshida."

Kaede straightened along with Stiles and they ended up looking at each other again.

"I fear I find myself apologizing to you again," Kaede said, casting his eyes downward. "Mori contacted me by mirror last night, and this time I responded. She explained to me what happened the night you woke up. It seems my aunt remembers the night differently."

"I don't remember a lot about what happened that night," Stiles said, stiffly, "only what the others told me. I do remember your brother's hands around my throat, though."

Kaede's eyes went tight at that. "Again, I am sorry for my part in all of this. And, I am sorry my family tried to kill you. We do not deserve the mercy you have shown us."

Stiles was silent for a moment, wanting to forgive him, but not sure if he could. "Can I ask you a question?" he said finally.

"Yes," Kaede said, meeting his eyes again.

"What happened the night we fought the kami?" Stiles asked. "After I took Derek's place, I don't remember anything after that. What happened to you in that room?"

Kaede's face registered surprise. "You remember the room?" he asked. "All I know is one minute, I was there with Derek, Kasumi, Kazuki, Tadashi, and Shiro, and all of a sudden, instead of Derek, it was you. I did not understand how it happened."

"My mom was there," Stiles said, "and she told me that in order to save Derek, I had to take his place. So I did."

Kaede nodded slowly. "My father was also there," he said. "He told me I had to take my sister's place if I wanted to save her." Kaede paused, swallowing. "But, I tried to save them all, including you." He hung his head down in shame. "I failed. I was unable to do it. That is how the kami was able to send them back for you."

Stiles reached out tentatively, eventually placing his hand on Kaede's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Kaede. It sounds like you were trying to do the right thing."

Kaede shook his head angrily. "No. It was pride. I thought too much of myself and my abilities." He dropped to his knees, causing Stiles to take a step back in surprise. His head and shoulders were hanging limply, his fingers brushing the floor. "I have brought shame upon my family," he choked out, sounding like he was on the verge of tears. "I was supposed to be your teacher, but I have failed you in every way. I have even threatened the alliance with your pack and the Clan of the Night Flowers. Now, I must beg for you to take me on as your student, for you have far surpassed me in your skill." He paused to take a few breaths. "I will understand if you refuse."

Stiles sighed, and crouched down, pulling at Kaede until he was standing again.

"I can't even stay mad at you if you're going to be this pathetic," Stiles said, crossing his arms shaking his head in annoyance at Kaede. "Look, I don't even know how I did most of the stuff that I did, but I think if we work together, we can try to figure it out." Stiles grimaced, then rolled his eyes and sighed. "How 'bout this? How about instead of one of us being the teacher, and one of us being the student, we learn together and we teach each other? I think that it would be a much better that way."

Kaede set his mouth into a firm line that was almost but not quite a smile, then bowed deeply again. "Thank you Stiles."

"Good," Stiles said. "Now, get out of here before I change my mind," he said, slamming the door in Kaede's face.

 

* * *

 

Lydia pulled up to the terminal and threw the gearshift to park. She stepped out of the car and watched as Derek and Stiles pulled their luggage out of her trunk.

"Thanks for the ride, Lyds," Stiles said, placing his suitcase on the sidewalk.

"Sure, no problem," she said, walking up to them. "So I guess this is it? You have the mirror I gave you, right?"

"Yup," Stiles said, patting his carry-on. 

The Tanakas had given Lydia all of the Koga mirrors they were able to find, which was four. They discovered early on that Stiles was able to use the mirrors, just like a Night Flower. 

"You won't be here when we get back," Stiles said sadly, frowning a little.

"Nope," Lydia said, shaking her head. "I leave for Japan about a week before you come home." She smiled brightly, then. "But, I'm super excited about going to university in Japan! It'll give me a chance to learn more about my family. And maybe, I'll be able to help the clan find out what happened to them."

"If you need anything, just let us know," Derek said, leveling a serious look at her.

Though Lydia was a Night Flower in her own right now, and had even been sent on a couple of assignments, Derek always insisted she bring a werewolf with her anytime she went. Stiles doubted Derek would be able to continue enforcing this once Lydia was on the other side of the planet.

"Okay," Lydia said, bringing them both in for a hug. "I need to go before I start crying!"

She squeezed them and then took a step back.

"Have a good time in Russia. I'm really glad that you'll finally be able to meet another Spirit Walker."

"Bye, Lyds!" Stiles called out, waving and smiling his big stupid grin as she opened her driver side door. "I love you!"

She flashed him one of her patented knock 'em dead smiles. "I love you, too."

Derek smirked and looked down as Lydia drove away. Stiles put an arm around his waist, and kissed him.

"Are you ready for another adventure, babe?" Stiles asked, letting go of him to grab his suitcase.

Derek looked at him like he was an idiot. "Our flight doesn't leave for another two hours."

"Yeah," Stiles said, shrugging, "but now just felt like the right time to say it."

Derek laughed and grabbed Stiles by the hips, pulling him close so that the full length of their bodies were pressed up against each other. He looked deeply into Stiles eyes, his laughing brown eyes filled with mirth, wonder, and light, then slowly leaned forward, pressing their lips softly together, until Stiles closed his eyes and sighed his happy sigh.

Derek pulled slowly back, looked into Stiles' eyes again and smiled, appreciating the rise of color high on Stiles' cheeks.

"I'm always ready for another adventure with you," he said, his voice deep and husky. He grabbed the handle of his suitcase, and held Stiles' hand, as they walked through the doors of the terminal.


	8. Appendix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm a huge nerd, so one of my favorite things about fantasy stories is the world building that authors do. I always like it when they include an appendix at the back of novels that includes things like a glossary, family trees, etc. So, in case there are any like-minded folk out there, I decided to include this appendix of the different Night Flower powders that appear in the story, as well as a partial character list. Enjoy!

**Night Flower Powders**

**Curtain of Impenetrable Light** – (fine white powder, looks like flour) made of ground crystals that conduct and amplify mystical energy, used to form barriers.

 **Dance of a Thousand Spirits** – (small black granules) allows a person to identify a Spirit Walker. Though incredibly foul tasting, this powder must be ingested to be used. Once ingested, anyone using this powder will see a Spirit Walker's eyes as two incredibly bright white orbs of light. The effects of this powder only last for about a minute.

 **Essence of the Night** – (deep purple, smells like an expensive perfume) allows a Night Flower or Spirit Walker to determine whether or not another person is a Night Flower. Only the scent is needed for this powder to work. A Night Flower or Spirit Walker using this powder will see wisps of periwinkle light coming off of a Night Flower. The effects of this powder last for about an hour. 

**Heart of the Ocean** – (looks and feels like sand) made from sand that has been brought up from the ocean floor. Holds dead bodies indefinitely at the bottom of a body of water.

 **Heart of the World** – (looks and feels like rich soil) pulls dead bodies into the ground. Much more difficult and time consuming to make than "Heart of the Ocean." It can take up to an hour for the bodies to be completely covered, depending on the density of the ground, and can even be used on solid rock. The powder continues to pull the bodies downward until it reaches the mantle of the Earth, though it is estimated that this process can take up to several decades. There is no visual evidence on the surface of the ground to show that the powder has been used, though cadaver dogs have been known to locate these areas. 

**Moon on the Water** – (deep green, smells like the ocean) allows a person to see a water kami. Must be mixed with water from the body of water that kami is associated with, and ingested. The effects of this powder last for about four hours.

 **Red Spider Lily** – (fine burgundy powder) made from the dried petals of the Red Spider Lily. The mere presence of this flower is enough to weaken Night Flowers. According to legend, this flower is associated with hell, and is also the flower that was mishandled by two of Amaterasu's servants, and who she has now punished for all of eternity. The powder is kept in a crystal vial with runes cut into it to prevent it from affecting Night Flowers who are transporting it.

 **Shroud of the Living** – (fine brick red dust) Binds kamis to the physical realm.

 **Thief of Night's Veil** – (gray with shiny pale blue flecks) Allows a person to see into another person's dreams. Dreamer must inhale some of the powder. Dream walker must be breathing the smoke from the burning powder.

 **Will of the Buddha** – (tiny white crystals, looks like table salt) increases potency and longevity of the effects of any other powder it is combined with.

 

**Clan of the Night Flowers**

Night Flower families listed in order of appearance.  
Children listed after double dash beneath parents, in birth order.  
Werewolves listed in order turned.

 

Tanaka Family– Specialty: knives  
\- Kaori ^  
\- Shiro +  
\- - Mori  
\- Tomoko +  
\- Masayuki +  
\- - Sayuri

Koga Family– Specialty: chi  
\- Mr. Martin *  
\- - Lydia Martin ^

Yoshida Family– Specialty: poisons  
\- Ayame ^  
\- Tsutomu  
\- - Tadashi +  
\- Kayko  
\- Ken +  
\- - Kazuki +  
\- - Kaede   
\- - Kasumi +

Beacon Hills Pack - Allies  
\- Derek Hale ∆ ^  
\- Stiles Stilinski   
\- Isaac Lahey ∆  
\- Erica Reyes ∆  
\- Vernon Boyd ∆  
-  
\- Affiliated with Beacon Hills Pack  
\- Melissa McCall Ø  
\- - Scott McCall ∆  
\- Allison Argent Ø  
\- Danny Mahealani Ø  
^ Leader  
 Spirit Walker  
∆ Werewolf  
Ø No supernatural abilities  
\+ Deceased  
* Inactive

**Author's Note:**

> After reading a few Sterek fics, I couldn't help but start writing one of my own. Jeff Davis has created a very particular world, and I didn't feel like vampires, witches, fairies or elves really belong, so I thought about what other supernatural beings might fit in his world, and somehow I ended up at ninjas!
> 
> Also, I'm pretty sure every fic I've read was told from either Stiles' or Derek's point of view, so I wanted to try something different, the point of view of a third party, like all of us! What conclusions would a ninja draw after being introduced to Derek and Stiles? Would she see a budding bromance and nothing more, or would she see through all of the subtext and ship them like everyone else?
> 
> So what started out as what I thought would be a cute and fun (and short!) one-shot, turned into a massive plot bunny that grew into almost 60,000 words. I'm kind of glad it did, though, because this sucker was hard to write, and I feel like it helped me to grow as a writer.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who read as I wrote! I don't know if I would have been able to finish without your support! I'm not sure if I have another fic in me; this one kind of took over my life for a while. Maybe someday...


End file.
